In Italia
by Emily Woodstone
Summary: Feliciano just wanted to get away from the terrible and fast-paced life of the Italian Mafia. But when he goes into town and meets an adorable German, he can't help but fall in love. What will he do when word gets out of this forbidden romance? And what is the capo Bastone of the opposing family, Gilbert, planning?
1. Introduction

**Hi! Just sort of an unofficial chapter. This is for referencing when you get confused with the lingo, or need a reminder of who everyone is. I even check this like 24/7 while I'm writing, so I'm sure it will come in handy to any readers out there.**

**BTW I'm Emily Woodstone, and this isn't my first story on , nor is this the first Hetalia fanfic I've written, but it is my first time downloading a Hetalia fanfic on the website, so I hope you all enjoy.**

**I'm really excited about this, and I hope everyone else is too! Please review if you have any questions, comments, advice, or anything else. It would be really helpful, because I die without feedback.**

**Rating it "T" just to be safe, because I already have plans for making it get pretty steamy later, but who listens to the ratings anyway? Every fangirl loves yaoi.**

**Enjoy! 3 3 3**

**Vargas Family:**

Italy - Feliciano Vargas - **Capo Crimini - Boss or "don". Head of a particular family**  
Germany - Ludwig  
Japan - Honda Kiku - **Consigliere - advisor or family counselor**  
South Korea - Im Yong Soo - **Sgarrista - foot soldier {carries out the usual "business" of the mafia}**  
-Britain - Arthur Kirkland - **Sgarrista/medic**  
South Italy (Romano) - Lovino Vargas - **Capo Bastone or Sotto Capo - the "underboss", second in command**  
Austria - Roderich Edelstein - **Contabile - financial advisor**  
-Hungary - Elizabeta Héderváry - **Sgarrista**  
-Poland - Felix Łukasiewicz - **Sgarrista**  
Switzerland - Basch/Vash Zwingli - **Sgarrista**  
-Denmark - Mathias Koehler - **Capo régime - heads a faction of about 10 foot soldiers**  
Canada - Matthew Williams - **Sgarrista**  
Spain - Antonio Fernandez Carriedo -** Sgarrista**  
-Lithuania - Toris Laurinaitis - **Sgarrista**  
Greece - Heracles Karpusi - **Sgarrista**  
Liechtenstein - Lilli - **Sgarrista**

**Braginsky Family:**

Russia - Ivan Braginsky - **Capo Crimini**  
Finland - Tino Väinämöinen - **Sgarrista/medic**  
Egypt - Gupta Muhammad Hassan - **Sgarrista**  
China - Wang Yao - **Capo régime**  
Latvia - Raivis Galante - **Sgarrista**  
Prussia - Gilbert Beilschmidt - **Capo Bastone/Capo Crimini**  
Sweden - Berwald Oxenstierna - **Sgarrista**  
Turkey - Sadık Adnan - **Sgarrista**  
America - Alfred F. Jones - **Sgarrista**

Belgium - Bella - **Sgarrista**  
Hong Kong - Kaoru - **Contabile**  
Ukraine - Ekaterina "Katyusha" Braginskaya - **Sgarrista**  
France - Francis Bonnefoy - **Consigliere**  
Belarus - Natalia "Natasha" Arlovskaya - **Sgarrista**

Estonia - Eduard von Bock - **Sgarrista**

**Capo Crimini - Boss or "don". Head of a particular family.**

** Consigliere - advisor or family counselor.**

** Capo Bastone or Sotto Capo - the "underboss", second in command.**

** Contabile - financial advisor.**

** Capo régime - heads a faction of about 10 foot soldiers.**

** Sgarrista - foot soldier {carries out the usual "business" of the mafia}.**

**1. A code of silence - Never to "rat out" any mafia member. Never to divulge any mafia secrets. Even if they were threatened by torture or death.**

**2. Complete obedience to the boss - Obey the boss's orders, no matter what.**

**3. Assistance - To provide any necessary assistance to any other respected or befriended mafia faction.**

**4. Vengeance - Any attacks on family members must be avenged. "An attack on one is an attack on all." **

**5. Avoid contact with the authorities.**


	2. It's a little slow at first

Si... I once had a life. I had a brother. A couple of nice parents. But those days are gone now. Now that I'm in the mafia. How is it my fault? I was kidnapped. Tortured. I did it to protect the people that I love. But even so... after I killed the one that took me away in the first place, no one forced me to become the leader of the mafia. Si... my mafia days are over. Now I'm in the most powerful mafia family in all of Italy. No one made me kill all those people. No one made me kill my brother, my mother, my father. That was all me. I once had a life. A good life. And it was thrown away. It wasn't taken by anyone. I'm the one that threw my old life away and never looked back. It's all my fault. So if you want to blame me, blame me. I'm a criminal. I won't deny it. But what can you do about it? I'll kill you before you can get the word out.

I am Feliciano. Last name? How can I remember? I never had one. My identity isn't my last name, or my first name. It's in the barrel of my gun. On the smile in my eyes as I laugh death in the face and throw souls into the pit. My identity isn't in a name. I am not a person. I am not human. I am death. The great grim reaper. People know me not by Feliciano, but rather by the trail of blood that follows me wherever I go.

Do you have a problem with that? I didn't think so.

"-ano! Feliciano! Feliciano wake up!" Feliciano woke with a start. He looked around and realized that he fell asleep in his office, his feet on the desk and his arms dangling carelessly over the sides of the chair. He quickly sat up and wiped the drool from his mouth.

"What is it you want, Lovino?" Lovino, the capo bastone, or second in command, was like a brother to Feliciano. They did everything together. They even looked pretty much the same. It was surprising they weren't blood related.

"Don Feliciano, some gang members has crossed onto our territory. Said they were looking for you."

"So? Send in the Capo régime and some Sgarrista. They'll take care of it."

"I would if I could, but they weren't anywhere to be found. And the one asking for you is Braginsky." Feliciano looked up, interested. Braginsky? The Ivan Braginsky whom has been the head of the rival mafia family for at least a decade now? This was surely going to be fun. Feliciano smiled and grabbed his loaded pistol along with a dagger. The two headed outside, to be immediately greeted by Ivan Braginsky, what looked like the Capo Bastone, the Consigliere, and several foot soldiers. Feliciano's Consigliere (or family consultant) was trying to make sure they didn't get any closer.

Feliciano walked up to the Consigliere, Honda Kiku, and patted his back. "I'll take care of this, Kiku. You head back inside." Kiku bowed and went inside.

"Ah, if it isn't head of the Vargas family, Feliciano." Ivan Braginsky spoke, his arms spread wide, a huge grin on his face. Feliciano couldn't tell if he was being sincere or not. "But rumor has it, you aren't actually a Vargas, you just killed the previous head of the family and took his place, keeping the name Vargas. Isn't that right?"

Feliciano smiled his sincerest and sweetest smile he could, keeping his gun hidden, but close at hand. "Rumors are rumors. I won't say whether they're true or not, but I don't think you came to chat. What do you want, Braginsky?"

"Ah, you are seeing right through me, da? But I guess you are famous for that. As I'm sure you have been hearing, we hit a little financial setback."

"So? What does that have to do with me?"

"I am thinking that a trade would be nice, da."

Feliciano's eyes narrowed. "Oh? And what kind of trade would that be?"

"A few of my soldiers in exchange for a little bit of money. When we get enough to pay it off, we give you the money- including the interest in this -and you give us back our soldiers. My family has already agreed to this trade, now it's up to you. Deal or no?"

Feliciano didn't even need to think twice about it. "I can already tell that our two groups run things very differently. I'm always ahead of the family business, while you like to rule from the shadows, intervening only when necessary." Ivan's eyes narrowed. Feliciano smirked and continued. "We both run our families very differently. And I respect that. But one thing that I cannot get past is this: your family is very disorganized. There are a lot of conflict in your own walls. And you depend on other families to solve those conflicts. While my family is very different. We are united, organized, and independent from all other families or otherwise. That is why we are considered a mafia. You, on the other hand, have been called many things. Mafia isn't one of them. Gang is. And the difference between a gang and a mafia, is mafia makes its own money. A gang gets money from tricking other groups to giving them money, or they steal it from another person or group."

"So what exactly are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'm not like you. And I will never give you money. Arrivederci." Feliciano and Lovino started to walk back inside. Ivan shouted to their backs.

"You will be regretting the day you made an enemies with me, Feliciano." And with that, they walked back.

Feliciano sat on the back of a typical Italian-style couch, smoking a cigar. The rest sat around, either on a couch or on the floor. The fireplace was lit, an apple wood log burning. There was a throw rug in the middle of a white carpet. A flat screen TV hung over the fireplace, a bunch of trophies and nick-knacks resting on the ledge of the fireplace. There was a grandfather clock on one side of the room, and the front door on the other. A regular light swung overhead. Feliciano didn't like flashy and expensive stuff like most mafias did, which is exactly what everyone liked about him. He was casual, nice, and good looking. He was more interested in using the money on ammo, supplies for food or medical stuff, or to just keep locked up in a safe, just to be sure. They admired Feliciano because he was a good leader, and he cared about them just as much as they cared about him. But today Feliciano was a bit troubled.

"You did the right thing" Roderich Edelstein said. He was Austrian, or so he said. He had a thick, almost German accent. Feliciano liked him. He was the Contabile, or financial advisor. Feliciano also had a thing for Germans, although he had no idea why. Feliciano sighed, though.

"Ve~ If I did the right thing, then why am I so worried?"

"How am I supposed to know? Our money is safe, and that's all that there is to worry about, right?"

"You dumbass" Lovino interjected. "That's not what Feliciano is worried about!"

Roderich was about to respond when Feliciano stood up on the couch and shouted "Stop it, both of you!" All talk around the room silenced. "The reason why I'm worried is because of the threat Braginsky sent me. And you all are very aware of what happens to anyone that is threatened by the Braginsky family. Hell, most of us came from the Braginsky family. I did. Lovino did. Several others in this room alone."

Mathias Koehler, the Capo régime, or Sergeant as he calls himself, spoke up. "So did I. And I can tell you now Feliciano, that I won't let that happen. All my men will be on guard. Nothing can get past us. We're elite, huh?" Everyone in the room but Roderich, Lovino, and Feliciano cheered. The first two rolled their eyes, while Feliciano smiled. Elite... it was a very comforting word.

Everyone got up for microwave food and beer. Feliciano looked around. Everyone in the Vargas family was there. A rather small family, actually. Fifteen people all together. Ten Sgarrista, or soldiers (one of them, Arthur, being a skilled medic). Mathias Koehler, "the Sergeant" or Capo régime. Roderich Edelstein, the financial advisor, or Contabile. Honda Kiku the Consigliere, or family counselor (also a skillful fighter and Feliciano's best friend). Lovino Vargas, the second in command, or Capo Bastone (also a decent fighter and a brother to Feliciano). And then Feliciano. First in command. He loved his family. He loved having one-night-stands with women he doesn't even know. He loved the thrill of the fight, the rush of adrenaline when the cops were after you or when you were pointing a gun at someone's head -or even better when someone else is pointing a gun at your head.

And yet Feliciano wanted to get away. Some part of him still yearned for a normal life outside of the mafia, where he could fall in love and eat with people and not get chased by the cops whenever he went out. Feliciano sighed a little too loudly.

"Is there something bothering you?" A voice asked. Feliciano quickly looked up to see Honda Kiku standing over him, that face that is normally completely blank, now showing a little bit of concern. Feliciano cursed under his breath. He wasn't supposed to let on that anything was wrong. Yet again, it was only Kiku...

"I've just been wondering..." Feliciano started. But he thought better of it and shook his head. "Forget it, it's nothing."

"Well it obviously isn't" Kiku said in his Japanese accent. "I can't forget about it now. Why don't you tell me? I promise that no one else would have to know." Kiku sat down next to Feliciano on the couch. The others laughed and clinked glasses in the kitchen behind them. The fire crackled in front of them. Feliciano stared into it and decided he would tell Kiku.

"I was just thinking if maybe I could get away for a day. I know it's stupid, just lately-"

"It's not stupid." Kiku interrupted. "I had a feeling this would be coming up sooner or later. I'm glad you told me."

"Wait, so then..." Feliciano said surprised.

"I have already been working on a cover story. In fact it was your brother who suggested it. We have been telling everyone that you are going to go out into town for a few days and do some reconnaissance. When in actuality you will be out just having fun."

Feliciano felt like a dumbstruck fool, but he felt his mouth creep into a smile. "Ve~ Lovino came up with that idea? And you helped?"

"Yes. Now why don't you get packed?"

Feliciano shook his head. "I'll get ready in the morning. Tonight, let's have fun with the others, ok?" Kiku smiled slightly and the two of them joined the others in the kitchen for beer and women.


	3. Things Are Looking Up

**Hi!**

**It's me again. I really love this story. I know it's slow at first, but it pick ups, trust me.**

**You guys are all awesome. I hope you love! :3**

**I'll try explainging everything as best I can, but if you're confused on some things, just ask.**

**But you don't want to listen to me ramble on, you came to read. Have fun!**

The next morning was a blur. Getting up early as usual was fine, but then getting showered, dressed, packed, and ready to go before any of the others woke up was challenging. Feliciano ended up bringing a bag full of things like cash, a gun, ammo, one change of clothes, and toiletries. As the leader of the mafia, you always need to look your best and be prepared for anything.

Honda Kiku and Lovino were waiting for him by the door. They said their goodbyes, and then Feliciano was off.

In town, people were staring. Feliciano never let it on that it was bothering him, but he really wanted to know why they were looking at him like that. Did they really recognize him? He vaguely remembered a newspaper article getting out about him once, but that was years ago. The first and last time he let the media get a picture of him. So that couldn't be it. He was walking past a store when he found out what it really was. His reflection in the window told him: it was the way he was dressed. Feliciano face palmed. People are going to stare at you when your dressed like you're in the mafia. "Great" Feliciano thought. "Now what am I going to do?" He looked up and saw that the store he was standing in front of happened to be a clothing store. "Ve~ I'm an idiot."

After at least an hour of wasted shopping time, he came back out looking like a normal person on the street. Happy with himself, he set off again.

The room was dark and cold, especially after the fire went out. No one felt like getting up and relighting it, so they all just suffered through the meeting. The leader, Ivan Braginsky, was a tall Russian man with white hair and dark eyes. He was pretty scary, at least to everyone else. Gilbert wasn't impressed, though. He wanted revenge.

Gilbert wasn't paying much attention to the meeting. Ivan and some of the others were going on about how to get back at the Vargas family for not lending money. The whole time Gilbert was trying to find out a way to get Ivan out of the picture so he can become leader. All there was to do, really, was to have perfect timing. Ivan will get into an accident, and the second in command will step up. Perfect.

He excused himself from the meeting. Everything was falling into place. If he sent a message, or maybe a threat, he was sure to come. Gilbert had all the strings he needed, and he was so awesome that he was already powerful enough. All he needed was something to make a legit threat. Brilliant. Gilbert picked up a dart. First he would kill Ivan and blame it on somebody else. Then to strike down the biggest nuisance in the world. Gilbert threw a dart at the dart board.

Gilbert was excited. This was going to be rather fun. He left the room to start putting his plan into action. Taped to the dart board with a dart through the face was a newspaper clipping. The headline read: "New Vargas Leader?" The picture underneath was none other than Feliciano, trying to cover the camera lens with his hand.

Across town, Feliciano walked merrily out of a store. He had no idea why, but he was feeling really good. No one recognized him. He bought at least three pairs of sunglasses, went to dozens of stores, and has already been to two of the five star restaurants. It was his second day in town, and nothing bad had happened. He almost forgot that he was a member of the mafia in the first place. Almost.

Feliciano was feeling so good that he forgot Lovino's very important advice. Stay alert, don't walk by any places we've attacked, and stay away from the police and from any security cameras if you can. Feliciano was hanging around some bank, when suddenly sirens started wailing. He was startled out of his daydream and looked up. "Great" Feliciano thought. "Getting caught at a bank I sacked a few years back. You think they would have forgotten about that by now."

The sirens got closer and closer. Feliciano reached for his gun, but thought better of it. Instead he decided to run. The cops were getting closer, and now shouting things like "Halt!" and "You're under arrest!"

"Yeah right" Feliciano said to no one, while he continued running. Like that would ever work. The crowd got thicker and thicker as more confused people tried to figure out what was going on. Most men running from the cops would have found this as more difficult to maneuver in, but Feliciano saw it differently. He saw it as an opening. He slowed his running and moved to find an alley way. Once he found one, he waited until the cops passed and the crowds got thinner.

He was waiting there for what seemed like hours. He spent the whole time checking out all the stuff he had gotten, taking apart and putting back together his gun, and counting all the people that walked by. Once he decided that it was safe, he quickly left the alley and turned a sharp corner.

Bam! Feliciano ran smack into someone, both of them sprawling in different directions. Feliciano somewhat managed to gain his balance, as he squeezed his eyes shut and slammed against a wall. He could hear the other guy fall on the ground, both of their stuff flying everywhere. Feliciano wanted to shoot the guy in the head for getting in the way, but he realized that it was really his fault. Feliciano opened his eyes and saw a tall blond man in a green outfit sitting on the ground and shaking his head.

"Mi dispiace!"* Feliciano shouted as he tried to help the man up. "It was all my fault. Here, I'll help you pick your stuff up." the man looked up to reveal that he had bright blue eyes. Feliciano could feel his heart pounding.

"Nein, es ist meine schuld."** the man answered.

"You're German?" Feliciano asked. The German laughed.

"Yes. Just moved here from Germany actually. And you're Italian."

Feliciano let himself laugh a bit. "Si." both of them picked up everything and got up from the sidewalk. The German handed a pair of sunglasses and handed them to the small Italian. "So," Feliciano started after an awkward silence "you just moved here?"

"Yeah," the German replied. "Just got here this morning. I don't even have a place to live yet. There's some place I'm supposed to check into for a motel room and for renting apartments. But I have no idea where I am."

"Do you have a map?" Feliciano eagerly asked. The German looked confused.

"Would you know how to get there?"

"Oh sure! I know this town like the back of my hand" a voice at the back of his head nagged: yeah, only because you've been wandering around it like an idiot for two days now. But Feliciano ignored the voice and smiled.

The German beamed. "Yeah! I have a map right here." Feliciano took the map and looked at it. He in fact did know where the place was. And it depressed Feliciano. The German saw his expression and tilted his head. "Is there something wrong with it? The map isn't out of date, is it?"

Feliciano sighed. "No, the map is fine. It's just this place... is on the other side of town." The German's mouth fell open. Feliciano tried to laugh it off. "You wouldn't happen to have a car, would you?"

"No! How could I? Don't you have one?"

"I do, but I left it at my house. I didn't expect to have to drive anywhere today." the German was now also depressed. Feliciano saw his perplexed face and for some reason didn't like that. He felt the urge to make this man happy no matter what it took. Feliciano suddenly got an idea. "I know! We can slowly make our way up there, so I can show you around town! If we get tired of walking, we can ride the bus or get a taxi. That way you can get the hang of things and get to know the best places to go in town. What do you think?"

The German smiled. He thought it was a great idea. "Wunderbar! Let's go!"

"Oh, I almost forgot" Feliciano was worried about asking this, because he knew what the response would be. But he was curious, so he didn't let it on. "What's your name?"

"Ludwig. And yours?"

"Feliciano." Feliciano smiled. Maybe nothing bad will happen. He hoped that this went smoothly and he could have a good time with this new found friend.

Oh, how he dreamed...

***Mi dispiace: I'm sorry! (in Italian)**

****Nein, es ist meine schuld: No, it's my fault. (in German)**

**So, I probably should have explained this earlier, but I forgot:'( So anyways, the mafia family is very interesting. I actually researched what the Italian mafia is like, and it said that they call themselves a family, thatpretty much goes out and does organized crimes. The "five rules" that I listed in the introduction chapter are pretty much the only rules in a family, and if a person breaks one of these rules, then they can be punished by death. The roles are pretty self explanatory, it's pretty much just listing what each member of the family's job is. Feliciano is the "don", or head, and I think the rest are explained.**

**I used a few websites for my research, but this was pretty much the only one I paid attention to, so I'm just giving a shoutout that it's a pretty awesome site:**

** . **


	4. uhNo Idea What To Call This Chapter

**Ciao!**

**I like this chapter. It's a little short, but it's good. Next one will be longer.**

**Jeez. I've gotten so far. I love it so much, but I can already tell that it's going to be pretty long. If you don't like long stories, then I'm sorry! I'll try to make it as to the point as I can!**

**Anyways, I don't have much to say today, so enjoy!**

It was nearly midnight when Ludwig finally checked into his motel room. They had spent the whole day doing nothing and everything at the same time. They went everywhere, used every form of transportation they could, and never stopped talking. But they never spent money in any store or restaurant. They just walked around and told stories and talked. At the end of the day (or the beginning, Feliciano couldn't really tell anymore), they went their separate ways. Feliciano still couldn't stop giggling at the story that Ludwig told about the time he was dared to run across the street naked.

Feliciano was in a good mood. He had one hand in his pocket, his other hand holding his bag over his shoulder. He kicked a rock down the street and merrily listened to it roll down the cold concrete. Nothing could ruin this day. Nothing, not even-

*_click_*

Feliciano sighed and dropped his bag. Not even another gun. Feliciano took out his gun, but didn't hold it up. Instead it hung lazily at his side. His dark eyes scanned the street for the source of the sound, until they fell upon a dark alleyway, where Feliciano could just make out the figure of a man.

"You shouldn't be around these parts, especially this late at night." the voice said. Feliciano knew who it was right away. He smirked.

"Neither should you, isn't that right? This isn't your territory anymore."

The other shrugged. "It's still mine. Just because you got me kicked out of the mafia, doesn't mean I'm out of the game."

"Ve~ I didn't get you kicked out. It was your own stupidity that did it. And what do you mean you're still in the game?"

"I mean," A figure moved out of the alley to reveal a tall, thin man, with white hair and crimson eyes. "I found a new family. Sorry I couldn't make it to the little meeting a few days ago."

Feliciano's eyes widened, then narrowed. "You joined Ivan Braginsky. I thought you hated him."

"I still do." Gilbert smiled. "What can I say? At least his family accepts outcasts."

In the blink of an eye Gilbert drew his gun and fired while Feliciano dodged. Feliciano raised his gun and smirked. In a flash Gilbert shot again and again and Feliciano kept dodging and he didn't fire back. Feliciano's gun fired off.

Gilbert stared at his own hand in awe. "I always did hear of your pinpoint accuracy, but shooting my gun out of my hand in pitch black is insane."

Feliciano smirked. "Ve~ one of the many insane things about me."

"Kesesese! Not for very long, Feliciano!"

Feliciano already knew what was coming and he blocked it easily. He held a short dagger out, blocking the one that Gilbert had intended probably for Feliciano's heart. In the black moonlight, Feliciano could barely see the look of shock on Gilbert's face. Gilbert backed off and attacked again and Feliciano blocked every time blow after blow being exchanged, the two men dancing around in quick rhythm of black as night murder, Gilbert's bright crimson eyes thirsty for blood and Feliciano's eyes wanting nothing more than to walk away reassured that Gilbert was dead and there was no trace left that they had ever fought in this dark alley in the middle of the night. Feliciano knocked the knife out of Gilbert's hand and held his own dagger to the revenge-driven man's throat.

"So" Gilbert shouted. "You have me. Finish me off!"

Feliciano wanted to, but he couldn't help thinking about a comment Ludwig had made earlier. _"Yes, many people are killed in my homeland. And my hands aren't exactly clean, but that's why I came here. For a fresh start."* _A fresh start... Feliciano wanted nothing more. He sheathed his dagger and took a few steps back, keeping a straight face. "I'll let you off this time, but if you cross my path again, it will be your head." Feliciano turned and picked up his bag and gun. Behind him, Gilbert shrieked with laughter.

"Kesesesese! You are less of a man than I thought, Feli! You don't even have the balls to finish-"

His sentence was cut short by Feliciano wheeling around and hitting Gilbert with the butt of his gun. "Have a shoot off, knife fight, begin to walk away, then turn around and knock him out with a gun." Feliciano thought. "He's not dead. Right? Right. I can still start fresh. At least I didn't kill that dumb bastard." Feliciano gave the scene a final nod, took Gilbert's dagger for good measure, then walked away.

Ludwig usually went to bed early, and woke up early. If he went to bed too late, he always woke up late. Noon late. That's why Ludwig was surprised to find that he woke up at six in the morning, even after getting to bed at exactly 12:43 after a great day with that fun little Italian he ran into. Ludwig showered, ate, even did a few sit-ups and laps around the building. But the whole time he couldn't keep his mind off Feliciano. He finally decided to head out to town to find him again. The Italian couldn't have gotten that far, could he have?

As soon as Ludwig set off, he ran into someone. He was about to start apologizing when he looked up and saw a certain very confused man standing in front of him. Ludwig burst out laughing.

"So, we meet like this again, ja Feliciano?"

Feliciano looked up and smiled. "Ludwig!" he couldn't help it. Whenever he started laughing really hard, his eyes would shut tight and he would double over laughing. Ludwig thought that it was adorable, since most of the time Feliciano was glancing over his shoulder as if someone was following him. Ludwig couldn't help laughing too.

"I actually came here looking for you, Ludwig!" Feliciano exclaimed after calming down a bit.

Ludwig chuckled some more. "I was doing the same thing!" They smiled at each other in silence for a while. "So..." Ludwig began again. "Yesterday was pretty fun."

Feliciano smiled, reminding Ludwig how cute Feliciano was. "Yeah" Feliciano laughed.

"Maybe you would like to do it again?" Ludwig asked sheepishly. "We can even buy stuff and have dinner this time."

Feliciano chuckled a bit. "I know exactly where we can go."

"Then what are we waiting for? Lasst uns gehen!** Let's go!" The two linked arms and headed off, laughing.

***_"Yes, many people are killed in my homeland. And my hands aren't exactly clean, but that's why I came here. For a fresh start.":_ dunno, just felt like explaining this. I have this idea for Ludwig's background, like things got out of hand with his older brother (spoiler), and so he became a soldier. But after a while he couldn't take it anymore, so he moved to Italy because he heard it was a nice place. I think I'll go in more detail later, but I haven't gotten that far yet.**

****"Lasst uns gehen!": litterally just, "let's go". Lolz.**

**Quick shoutout to the awesome person, livingdeadlizzi, my first follower. You rock! I love you! 3 3 3 **


	5. Making Plans

**HI...**

**I've been writing a lot lately. So much that I keep forgetting to work on my actual homework. And sorry that it's a bit slow still, it'll pick up soon. I should know, I've already written at least the next three chapters. Any time I get the chance, whether it's on my phone, at my computer, or on a piece of paper.**

**And you all are so awesome, thank you so much for putting up with me. It's making me so happy to see how many people who have taken the time to read it. I don't really care about reviews (although I do really appreciate them and any tips or advice would be soooooooooooooooooooo helpful), but people reading it is enough for me. Seriously, the highlight of my day.**

**Anyways, enjoy the new chapter, and there are many more to come! *Love!***

"Where is that wanker anyway?" Arthur asked. "Usually he only takes one day for a scouting mission, but it's been three days now!"

Honda Kiku and Lovino looked at each other. Neither of them thought that he would be gone this long. Maybe something happened? Or maybe he really was just enjoying himself.

"I wouldn't worry." Lovino, much to Kiku's surprise, said. "We all know that Feliciano can take care of himself. And if something did happen, he would have sent us some sort of message. He always does."

"Even so" Mathias said, standing up. "While he's incapable of leading us on his -_ahem_- "scouting mission", we should appoint a temporary leader. I vote for me. Oh, I gladly accept the position!"

Lovino was a about to erupt, but Kiku laid a hand on his arm. "The Capo Bastone is the second in command." Kiku explained, as calm as ever. " And since Lovino is our Capo Bastone, he is automatically in charge." Mathias sat down, annoyed.

"Well I've had about enough of this!" Felix shouted suddenly. "I hate all this sitting around!" He stormed out of the room, grabbing his coat. Mathias and Elizabeta stood up with him, Mathias picking up Toris on the way out. Kiku couldn't keep Lovino calm anymore.

"And where do you think you're going?!" Lovino exploded, his face as red as a tomato.

"To rob a bank or kill someone! I don't know, something!" Elizabeta stressed. "But waiting around is getting us no where!"

"Just don't let the cops or media catch you." Roderich said, not even paying attention. Lovino was about to tackle the four and shoot them in the head. It took Antonio and Kiku to hold him down and stop him from getting his gun out.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARDS! GET BACK HERE, DAMMIT!" Lovino shouted. But it was too late. The four had already gone out the door.

"That idiot can't tell me what to do." Mathias fumed. Felix vigorously nodded his head. Elizabeta stared blankly, while Toris looked like he was about to cry from fear. "We'll show them, right Felix?"

"What? Oh, right! We'll definitely show them! uh, what exactly are we showing them?"

"That they're all idiots! And that we're stronger, and I should be in charge. Right?"

"Nope! Oh wait, I mean yep!"

"Good. Elizabeta? Toris?"

"I think I should be in charge, but I agree with you with everything else." Elizabeta said.

"Uh! I - I d-don't... B-but-" Toris stammered.

"Good enough for me!" Mathias yelled, cutting off Toris. "Let's head into town and see what we can do to prove how much stronger we are."

"You mean you said all that without even having a plan?" Elizabeta smirked.

"I'm making it up as I go, ok!" Mathias shouted.

Feliciano looked out the window half dreaming. He couldn't believe that Ludwig was so... amazing. The sun was setting, but he never wanted it to end. His family wouldn't mind if he spent another day in town, would they? Besides, scouting missions usually took at least a week. So it was settled. Feliciano decided, with a broad smile on his face, that he would stay at least four more days with Ludwig. What was the harm in that? Ludwig came back from the bathroom just as their food came in.

"Let's eat." Ludwig said.

"Yeah!" Feliciano exclaimed.

Mathias stormed across the block, the others tailing not far behind. They had been wandering around all day, and so far there was no sign of Feliciano. And there was absolutely nothing or no one to attack. Nothing interesting, at least. Mathias stopped at a window to some fancy restaurant, the others almost running into him from the sudden halt.

"What is your problem?" Elizabeta asked.

Mathias peered closer into the window. "Isn't that... Feliciano?" The other three peered into the window now, too.

Felix gasped. "It is!"

"I wonder what he's doing here?" Toris wondered out loud. "And who is that man with him?"

"Probably someone Feliciano is planning to kill." Elizabeta stated. "You know Feliciano, and that man looks pretty loaded."

Feliciano was having the time of his life. They were still laughing and having fun, all the way through dessert. Ludwig wouldn't stop getting whipped cream on Feliciano's nose, and Feliciano wouldn't stop laughing about it. Some time passed, and they ran out of dessert to play with. They temporarily ran out of things to talk about, and the laughing had died down. Both stared and smiled weakly at each other. Feliciano couldn't understand why, but his heart was racing. Ludwig started leaning closer, and Feliciano found that he was doing the same. Before he knew what was happening, their lips had locked. He was a little shocked at first, but then closed his eyes and kissed back. Feliciano could hear the blood rushing through his head as Ludwig's tongue explored the inside of his mouth. They broke, both slightly panting from the long kiss, and looked in one another's eyes. Feliciano was the first to lean in for the second kiss, and both smiled into it. Feliciano's face was red hot, but he could tell that Ludwig's also was, so he didn't care. A thought dawned on him. He loved Ludwig. And nothing else mattered.

Mathias, Elizabeta, Felix, and Toris felt their jaws drop. Not only did their leader kiss this strange man, but they kissed twice! And Feliciano wasn't even holding a gun to the man's head like he would if it was a girl he wanted something out of.

Mathias suddenly started laughing. "This is great! Now I know exactly how I'm going to bring Feliciano down! Once word of this gets out, his reputation will be ruined! And Lovino, that stuck up bastard, will be so embarrassed, that he'll be forced to step down! And once he does, I'll take Feliciano's place! My plan is fool proof!"

"So, what, are you just going to tell everyone that Feliciano kissed another man? Who would believe you?" Felix asked.

"No one. They only believe what their eyes can see. Once something happens to this guy, Feliciano will come to his rescue. Then our little "Don" will be forced to don the truth!"

"And how can you be so sure something will happen to the other man?"Toris nervously questioned.

"Oh it will." Mathias replied darkly. "I'll make sure of it." He grinned, an evil glint in his eye.

The room remained cold, the fire unlit. Ivan surveyed everything with a trained eye. Everything was more or less in place. The dart board had two darts hanging from it. Gilbert, the Capo Bastone, always left his place in total disarray. The chair out from under the table, trash on the floor, scattered poker chips and cards. Ivan sighed. He would have done away with Gilbert, once he found out his motives. But Gilbert had made too many connections. And Ivan had no proof. But he might, after this latest development. Just then Francis Bonnefoy, the Consigliere, walked in, interrupting Ivan's thoughts.

Ivan stared at the strange French man. He dressed flashily, talked strangely, and always had a creepy interest in other men. Ivan smiled. They made the perfect match. Francis had no idea what the Russian was thinking, but he went along with it and smiled too.

"Bonjour, Don Ivan. How goes this splendid day?"

"Same as ever, da. And how are the things going with you?"

"Ah, I have news. It really is intéressant."

"Go ahead with the interesting news, da. I'm curious."

"Well, mon ami,* I have good news and bad news. I have confirmed what Gilbert is planning. Apparently he tried to get a few of the other Sgarrista to join him. But since he hasn't acted yet, that isn't proof enough to punish him for treachery. And yet while you are in command, he is still under the laws of the mafia."

"And the good news?" Ivan asked.

Francis smiled. "Ah, you know me so well. I went into town in one of those ugly outfits that you told me to wear on stake-outs."

"And?"

"And it is confirmed. Feliciano is in town. Too bad we have to get this information from Gilbert, the traitor."

"I will be handling Gilbert. You take Wang Yao and a soldier or two to deal with our little friend in town."

"And if he is with someone?" Francis asked. Ivan slowly made his way out the door, his aura going crazy dark.

"Then take them too. We shall be showing them the proper Braginsky greeting." Ivan opened the door "For our enemies." he added as he went through the door. Francis shivered, hearing Ivan's laugh through the now closed door. Man that guy was seriously scary. Francis wondered how anyone dared to oppose him. They had to have some real guts. Francis thought about Gilbert.

"Or," Francis said to no one. "They're just really really stupid."

Gilbert just got a major scolding from Ivan. Wait... could it even be called that? All the crazy leader talked about (calmly, yet terrifyingly, if that's even a word) was telling Gilbert to remember his place, reminding him of the five rules of the mafia- the second one in particular -and saying that if he was to try anything reckless or do anything that could mark him a traitor, then he would get the proper "punishment". Which, Gilbert knew well since he was usually the one to execute traitors, is torture from Ivan, which no one can survive. Gilbert almost lost hope, when suddenly Francis, who was apparently going to lead a mission in town, called in sick. Ivan turned with a sigh to Gilbert.

"I am too busy to be running a mission on my own. Do you think you can be doing this for me? The Vargas leader, Feliciano, is in town. Whether it is for important purposes or personal, I do not know, and frankly do not care. But I want you and Wang Yao to capture him and bring him back here so I can settle a score. Can you do this?"

Gilbert forced himself to remain completely emotionless. "It will be an honor." Without another word, he walked out of the room. Once outside, he grinned. Everything was finally falling into place. He ran to his room to get prepared.

***"mon ami": France says it a lot, and everyone I'm sure is smart enough to guess what it is (except for me, lol. For the longest time I thought it meant "my brother"), but then I actually looked it up and found that it meant "my friend." Which makes sense.**

**Lol, devious Gilbert. Just wanted to quickly say, I love ALL the characters, even the ones that annoy me like Turkey, or France, or even America sometimes, but the roles just seemed to fit. Gilbert and Ivan are some of my favorites (and you can already begin to tell whats going to happen to those two), but it just seemed right to make them the bad guys. And you'll see why more and more later.**

**See you all later!**


	6. What!

**Hi!**

**Just did archery today. I rock at it! But it inspired me to do more writing and upload more of this for you awesome people. Don't ask me how it connects, because I honestly don't know how.**

**But anyways, here you are! I might upload more later tonight.**

**Yet again, any questions, comments, concerns, helpful advice, or anything else, is much apreciated. Feedback helps me alot as a writer, and anything to help your guys's reading expirience would be awesome.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

Feliciano had been absent for six days now. Six days of bliss. Six days of Ludwig. After the second day, he got a room in the motel Ludwig was staying at. After the fourth, he started forgetting his gun on the nightstand. Everyone in the Vargas house began to worry. But not Feliciano. He had almost completely forgotten that he was the leader of the most powerful mafia family in all of Italy. And besides, today was a special treat. Ludwig said that he wanted to take Feliciano to the movies, then a nice dinner at the great restaurant called "Bucca di Bepo". And Ludwig said that he had a gift... Feliciano was so excited he got ready to go as early as he could.

Across town, the Braginsky family began their search. Wang Yao was especially good at doing that. There was only one problem. No one had any idea where Feliciano could be.

"From what the totally awesome me can tell, he's going to fancy restaurants, and other places of high standing. Possibly to pick a new target for another "organized crime". That man he's travelling with is possibly a new recruit for the Vargas family."

"Didn't you find them once?" Sadık asked annoyingly. "Why can't you just do it again?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and ignored the question. But it was actually because the first time he found Feliciano completely by luck... and he had slight amnesia from the nice whack in the head. Thanks to Feliciano, he can't remember where he was that night, or how he got there. So they continued to search.

The movie was great. Both of them couldn't stop giggling and snuggling and kissing each other. People told them to be quiet at least four times. They were headed to the restaurant now, taking their time, linking arms, strolling down the street, laughing like usual. Feliciano couldn't tell why, but there was something about Ludwig that made him feel... secure.

Ludwig had no idea what it was. He was completely attracted to Feliciano, he felt things that he's never felt before. Yet there were times when Feli was just... off. Glances over the shoulder. Wincing every time he heard a siren wail. And Ludwig swore that the first few days he caught glimpses of a gun. He knew there was something Feli wasn't telling him, something he was worried about, yet really good at concealing. And Ludwig was determined to find out what it was.

Gilbert came back from washing his hands, though it was useless since they were still stained red.

"Alright, thanks to a very helpful tip from the lovely lady, we know that there was a reservation under the name "Vargas", set to 1:30. So we keep a low profile and let them come to us."

"I thought we were supposed to be keeping a low profile!" Wang Yao complained.

"I am!" Gilbert whined back, his voice for some reason an octave higher.

"How is killing people in the bathroom keeping a low profile?!" Wang Yao shouted.

"I stored the body in the kitchen along with all the dead chefs, and I cleaned up the blood. How is that not low profile?"

"You kill too many" the Chinese sighed. "We are going to get noticed."

"We'll be fine. No one will notice." Gilbert checked his watch. 1:00. "Hey, we have thirty minutes to spare before those two get here. Let's hit the bar!"

Feliciano happily checked his watch. 1:25. They were right on time for their reservation. Ludwig saw Feliciano being so happy and couldn't help laughing too. What was with this guy? It's like he's never seen a happy or exciting day in his life. Ludwig didn't know it, but he was soon going to find out why.

Feliciano was so excited. But when they entered the restaurant, his mood changed drastically. The man holding the door open for them was wearing a hat and keeping his head down, not saying a word. It could have been Feliciano's imagination, but he swore he heard the click of a door locking.

Alfred made sure to keep his head down until the two passed. Once they had, he looked up with a grin to Katyusha Braginskaya, who was waiting eagerly as a pretend waitress.

Feliciano eyed the waitress who was currently checking their reservation. He dared a glance at Ludwig, who so far didn't notice that anything was wrong. He looked at the waitress again, thinking how familiar she looked. Someone moving along the corner of the room caught his eye, but they disappeared into the shadows. Then Feliciano suddenly remembered something very important.

Everyone drew their guns. Alfred surveyed the room, and gave the ok.

Feliciano couldn't believe he forgot. He couldn't believe he left his gun and let his guard down.

Gilbert, Sadık, and Wang Yao got ready to attack. Feliciano distinctly heard the safety of a gun click off.

He gave himself a mental punch in the stomach. He couldn't believe he forgot.

He was in the mafia. And he had put himself, and especially Ludwig, in danger. So he did the only thing he could think of.

He shoved Ludwig against a wall and shouted "Get down!" as a shower of gunshots began to hail. Everyone alive in the restaurant began to scream but all Ludwig could do was stare up in shock as he watched Feliciano impossibly dodge every bullet shot at him. Feliciano ran across the room to the nearest table and grabbed a tray as a shield and a steak knife as a weapon as a Chinese looking man sprang up from that shadows and began to duel with Feliciano, dagger against steak knife.

More people kept joining the battle, and at first Feliciano was able to hold them off, but then he began to be overwhelmed. He turned his back to the Chinese for too long, and the man was given the chance to grab Feliciano from behind, and wrestle him to his knees. Feliciano struggled, but he knew it was futile. Gilbert stepped in front of the Italian and did his usual "bask-in-my-awesome-glory" pose. Feliciano had a knife held at his throat and about half a dozen guns pointed at his head, so all he could do was glare up at the albino German.

"You know, Feliciano, you really screwed up this time." Gilbert chuckled to himself.

Feliciano growled. "You... I should have known."

"Yes." Gilbert laughed. "You should have. And this," Gilbert showed Feliciano the butt of his gun. "Is revenge for a few days ago." He hit Feliciano in the head with his gun, knocking out the leader instantly.

Ludwig couldn't believe what he just saw. Everything happened so fast. He was terrified. The battle was surprising, but Ludwig had fought battles before, being a former soldier. So that wasn't scary. Feliciano being attacked by these men and holding that many of them off for that long a time... yet again, surprising, but not very scary.

But Ludwig was terrified. He mumbled. "Gilbert..."

Gilbert looked around for the person that just said his name. His eyes fell on a young blond man, sitting against a wall, with pale blue eyes, the German army uniform, and a cross around his neck. Gilbert grinned wickedly.

"Kesesesese! What an unexpected twist!" Gilbert laughed. "It's so good to see you again Ludwig, my own dear brother. This," Wang Yao walked up to Ludwig while he was focused on the laughing Gilbert. "is certainly going to be interesting." Before the paled German could respond, Wang Yao struck him in the head, making him fall unconscious.

**Didn't see that coming, did you? Oh, you did? Oh... ah well, I hope you liked it anyway. :3**

**Things are getting exciting for once! So awesome! It's going to be pretty intense from now on. So just keeping being awesome, and hang tight!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	7. Finding Feliciano

**Ciao! Ciao!**

**You know, I'm holding a Hetalia party! If anyone is interested (and happens to live in Albuquerque, New Mexico), I would love for you to come! It'll be November 3rd, if anyone is interested. And once I come up with a location, I will definitely tell you. Come in costume! :3**

**Other than that, this chapter is a lot of fun, so I hope you enjoy. **

The first thought Feliciano had was that his head hurt. He had no idea who he was, or where he was. The only thing that mattered was his head really hurt. Feliciano fluttered his eyes open. The second thing he found was that his hands and feet were tied to a chair. Then he remembered what happened. He struggled against the ropes to no avail. Feliciano heard footsteps getting closer, until the end of a gun hit him hard across the face.

Feliciano spit out blood, and barely heard voices talking. "-maybe you were being a little too rough on him." a voice said.

"Too rough? Isn't that what we're supposed to be? Idiot." a painstakingly annoying voice said. Feliciano struggled more against the restraints, and gave up.

"Gilbert..." Feliciano muttered.

Gilbert whirled around, grinning happily. "Ah, you're awake! Kesesesese! This is quite a gift to have you here. And really, the pleasure is all mine. I'm sure you are... dying to go home." He dragged a knife across Feliciano's chest, and Feliciano groaned in pain.

"This isn't right." Lovino said for like the millionth time, pacing across the living room, which was getting darker every minute. He called an emergency meeting. Everyone had grudgingly come.

"Keep calm." Kiku said, again for the millionth time. "I am sure he just got busy."

"No." Lovino turned on Kiku. "For the past, what, five days? He's been giving me an update every hour, or at least tells me when he's not going to be able to respond. He's been gone for seven hours now. I've tried texting him, calling him, everything I can. But no matter what I try, it goes straight to voicemail, or he doesn't respond."

"You worry too much." Roderich said. "How about you sit here and drink some beer. It should calm your nerves, and then tomorrow Feliciano will call you apologizing for not answering. Here" Roderich held out a glass of beer, but Lovino swatted it away.

"I don't want beer, goddammit! What don't you understand? Not only has he been in town for far too long, but now he isn't even answering his fucking phone! There's something wrong, I just know it!"

"You said so yourself," Kiku stressed, still trying to calm Lovino, "that if something really were wrong, he would have sent a sign. I don't see any sign."

"This is your fucking sign!" Lovino shouted. "He hasn't answered and he always does! And the last text he sent me said that he was heading into a restaurant, and then it cuts off and says that something is wrong. I already told you this!" Antonio took the phone from Lovino's hand, who strangely didn't object. He read the last text out loud, his Spanish accent coming on strong.

"**'Heading into a restaurant now, so don't w**' and then it cuts off and skips a line and says; '**Something isn't right.**'" Now everyone was paying attention. All Lovino had been yammering on about this whole time was that something was wrong and the last text sent was suspicious. He never actually read it aloud like Antonio did. Whenever Feliciano said that something wasn't right, something wasn't right.

Kiku realized this, and stood up."You're right. We should head to town and find him."

"You can count me out." Roderich said.

"I'm in." Mathias grinned. He turned to Elizabeta and winked, who understood right away and stood up too.

"I'll do anything to save my Lovi and Feli." Antonio sprang up and hugged Lovino, who immediately turned bright red, trying to peel the Spaniard off.

"I told you, I'm not your Lovi!"

Heracles Karpusi sleepily stood up, the usual cat on his head. "I'll help too."

"I'll go." Arthur Kirkland smiled. "If he's injured than he'll need a medic."

"I want to go too!" a strange voice said. Everyone looked around, but couldn't find it, so they shrugged it off. It was in fact Mathew Williams, a Canadian who... well didn't leave much of a presence.

"Alright" Lovino said. "Then that's that! The rest of you stay here and hold down the fort in case something happens. Kiku will keep you updated in case something goes wrong."Kiku replied by pocketing his phone and strapping on his katana. "While we're gone, Roderich is in charge."

"Whatever." the Austrian responded.

"Let's head out!" Lovino shouted. Everyone filed out. Mathew looked around, then ran out.

"Guys, you forgot me!" Mathew shouted. Which still really sounded more like a weak pathetic whisper. He's so quiet that even his quotations stand out more than him.

It seemed like hours. The only thing Feliciano heard was the blood rushing through his head, and laughing through incomprehensive talking. The only thing he felt was his wrists tied behind his back, his feet tied to either chair leg, and the pain. The burning, sharp pain, that sometimes would dull ,then would immediately spike. His eyes were mostly kept shut, but sometimes he managed to open them and see someone causing more pain- mainly Gilbert, but sometimes another one would appear and take over. He could smell the beer on Gilbert's breath whenever the German leaned close. The metallic taste of blood that Feliciano knew too well was getting stronger every time his cheek was cut, or he would cough from a stomach or chest wound, bringing more blood up.

The only thing Feliciano could do was shout curses. Sometimes yelling things that everyone could understand, but as time wore on, they got more rapid, and were only spoken in Italian, which, Feliciano knew well, no one else spoke. Gilbert laughed at the curses that he couldn't understand, and all the screaming and groaning this little Italian made. Yet Gilbert had to admire him. It's been about fifty minutes of torture now, and Feliciano still clung to life, still struggled to remain awake. And every time Gilbert looked into the Italian's eyes, he could see the struggle for his life.

"And what have we here?" Everyone turned to see Ivan, the Braginsky leader, standing in the doorway. He looked to see that Feliciano was tied up and suffering. "Ah" he began, walking up. "It makes me smile to see how you are enjoying my mafia's overwhelming power. You are enjoying it, da?" All Feliciano could do was look up in hate and disgust. He threw a curse in another language- possibly Italian, but it was hard to tell because of how slurred his words were.

"Well," Ivan said, standing up. "No matter. Now you will see what happens when you scorn my family and underestimate my power."

There was a terrible bang as Feliciano was thrown into a metal room. Ludwig looked up alarmed, and when he saw Feliciano laying there bleeding, he rushed over.

"Feliciano? Feliciano!" Ludwig shouted at the Italian uselessly. Ludwig carefully turned Feliciano over, and saw all the terrible gashes and burns. Ludwig didn't know what to do.

He stopped the bleeding as best he could, and gently lay Feliciano's head on his lap. "Oh Feliciano." Ludwig mumbled. "What do I do? How do I get us out of here?"

"We have no idea where to go." Mathias groaned. It was getting close to morning. Everyone was wandering around the streets, trying to find even a clue as to where Feliciano is, or might have been taken. Lovino started to walk away from the group, not even searching anymore. Antonio noticed this and went over to him.

"Where are you going?" Antonio asked.

"To find Feliciano." Lovino answered.

"But he never told you where he went. How do you know where to look?"

"Because I know my brother." Lovino kept walking. Antonio couldn't help but smile. Lovino was almost out of sight when Antonio finally got all the others to follow. Lovino walked, barely watching where he was going. After about half an hour of walking, Lovino walked into a motel.

"Is this where he stayed?" Kiku asked.

"Yes." Lovino answered with no uncertainty. He walked straight up to the room marked "a15". It was a little code for the Vargas family. A for them being the best, and 15 for the 15 members in the Vargas household. Lovino checked the doorknob.

"Unlocked." Lovino stated.

"How unusual of him." Kiku said. Lovino walked in, with Kiku and Antonio following. Lovino took a quick survey of the room, and ran up to the night stand.

"Damn it Feliciano!" Lovino yelled.

"What? What did he do, Lovi?"

"I told you, I'm not your Lovi! And he left his gun here!"

"Whatever he was doing, or whoever he was with, he got too comfortable." Kiku stated. "If he doesn't have his gun, then he could be in more danger than we thought."

Lovino opened the drawers and picked up a dagger. It wasn't Feliciano's though. This one had a skull on the handle, while Feliciano's has no carving.

"Does this look like anyone's to you?" Lovino asked.

Kiku recognized it. A few seconds later, he remembered where he'd seen it before. "Gilbert! When we got into that fight a few weeks back, Gilbert attacked me and Feliciano with that knife."

"Exactly." Lovino pocketed the gun and put the dagger down. "I know where Feliciano is. Let's go."

With that, they headed out.

**This one is short. But I love it. It shows how much Lovino really loves his younger brother. And I'm not sure if I did the motel sign right, but I didn't feel like looking it up. But you guys get the point.**

**And aw, poor Mathew! He's so cute! I just had to have him come along. There was no other choice. Mathew is just too fucking cute.**

**Things are just starting to get good. Some gay love and awesome action coming up. Ok, well, awesome action. It's just gay thoughts really. But anyways, I hope you guys liked, and please, look forward to the next chapter! I know I will! Bye!**


	8. Bruder! Stop being an intruder!

**Hi~**

**I am officially terrified of Japan. After too many Japanese horro movies, I now know and will never doubt again that Japan is the home of horror and fear and terror.**

**Yeah... I watched the slit-face woman. It's terrible acting, but I'm scared to all hell right now. It's so hard to post a new chapter when I can't stop thinking about my mom suddenly grabbing me from behind and cutting my cheeks with a pair of scisors and stabbing me and kicking me and...**

**Anyways, this is a good chapter, so enjoy~**

**V-ve...**

Feliciano woke up on a concrete floor. He had no idea where he was, but this time he remembered right away what happened. The pain told him that. Feliciano opened his eyes.

"Oh, you're awake." a voice said. Feliciano looked up wearily, his vision slowly clearing. He saw Ludwig looming over him, a look of concern on his face. "How are you feeling?"

"Like hell." Feliciano whispered. His throat was dry and scratchy, and it was hard to talk.

"Well, at least you look a little better than last night."

Feliciano laughed weakly. But he couldn't. He just couldn't let himself laugh at Ludwig's jokes. He couldn't let himself fall in love with Ludwig. If he did... well Ludwig might end up in a worse position than being locked in a cage. And Feliciano couldn't let that happen. "I'm... I'm sorry." Feliciano stammered.

Ludwig was genuinely surprised. "What? What for?"

"For putting you in this position. I lied to you. I put you in danger and got you in this position. I'm sorry..."

"I don't get it, how did you do this to me? It's not your fault-"

"Yes it is!" Feliciano shouted. "Don't you understand? I'm the leader of the mafia, I kill people, and others have grudges against me, and they don't care who gets in the way! If you stay with me, you'll get hurt." Feliciano was close to tears, but to his surprise Ludwig just smiled.

"I know. And I understand. But I don't think you do. I don't care about all that stuff. If you're in trouble then I'll be there to help. And I don't doubt that if I'm ever in danger, you'll come running. No matter what happens, I'll be by your side. I promise."

Feliciano didn't expect this. A few tears rolled down his cheeks, but Ludwig wiped them away. "Yeah. It's a promise." They made it official by a kiss.

Ludwig drew back and smiled at the laughing Italian. Never. He would never leave Feliciano again.

Both of them were interrupted by a sudden knocking on the metal door. Feliciano got up on his arms, unable to sit up any more. Ludwig stood up, apparently ready for a fight. Through the window there was a smiling albino German with bright crimson eyes.

"Aw, you two are so cute." Gilbert laughed. "Too bad you'll both be dead soon. Kesesesese!"

"I hope you're comfy, cause this is the last room you'll ever be in." Gilbert laughed

"Just let us go, and leave us alone bruder!"

Brother? Surely Feliciano didn't hear that right. He couldn't be...

"I'm afraid I can't do that, West. You see I have a score to settle with poor little Feliciano over there, and as for you... well we'll see."

"You can't honestly still be mad about what happened over five years ago?! Das ist lächerlich!*"

"Oh, but it's so much more than that, West. You should know." Gilbert grinned. Ludwig seemed to know what Gilbert was talking about, so he walked up to the window and grabbed the bars.

"Listen, you miststück**, you may be mein bruder, but that won't stop me from killing you when I get out of here! And yes, I will get out. Me and Feliciano both."

Gilbert grinned, as if this was exactly what he wanted to hear. "I'll take that as a threat, Ludwig. Until then, auf wiedersehen." With that, Gilbert walked away. Ludwig slammed his fists against the bars on the door, exasperated.

He slowly walked back to Feliciano, who was sitting on the floor staring up confused. "Sorry about that." Ludwig muttered, not seeing Feliciano's face. "Just don't worry about what he said." Ludwig finally looked down. "What?"

"Brother?"

"Hm?"

"Gilbert is your brother? You didn't find it at all necessary to tell me the man who has locked us both in here, and caused me this much trouble and pain, is your brother?"

Gilbert wasn't that surprised. Even he now realized that it was sort of a stupid thing to not mention before. "Don't worry about it Feliciano. He hasn't been a brother to me for a long time. it would be better if he just died." Ludwig knelt down and put his arm over Feliciano's shoulders. "I won't let him get in the way."

Feliciano slumped over, his face void of all hope. "I don't see how we'll ever get out. I can't even tell how long we've been in here." Feliciano let out a deep sigh. "The others just think I'm on a scouting mission. There's no way they'll find us in time."

Feliciano looked so miserable. Ludwig hated seeing his Feli like this. "No."

Feliciano merely looked up confused, his cute little curl bobbing just a little. His face turned bright red as Ludwig got on top of him, holding his face up.

"I'm not going to let that happen, so you lose that hopeless attitude. We're going to get out. I promise. If the others don't come for us, then we'll find a way out on our own. There has to be something we can use. I won't let you die here, Feli." Feliciano had to ignore the fact that Ludwig was sitting on top of him right now. He had to ignore that his face was getting hotter by the minute. He concentrated on keeping his same old poker face, and instead smiled.

"ok..." Feliciano whispered. Ludwig tilted his face up even more, and then their lips met one another. It was long and wet, and Feliciano enjoyed every last second of it. Ludwig got off, even though secretly Feliciano didn't want him to, and they sat there, holding hands.

***"Das ist lächerlich!": "That is rediculous!" I kind of figured since Ludwig was now talking to his brother, they would use more German.**

****"miststück": "bastard" That one was fun. I actually went online and found a website that gives cuss words in other languages. I went so overboard with it, though. Japanese cuss words are wierd. Just letting you know.**

**Here's the website in case you want to see for yourself :3 /german/insults**

**Till next time! Hasta la pasta!**


	9. Making friends

**Hi!**

**LOVE this chapter. Hope you will too!**

**Quick shout out to 21hugs, ShizukaMiyagi, , and livingdeadlizzi. The first people to follow my stories! It makes me so happy :3 I love you all! And I really love all the people who take time out of their day to read my story.**

**So thank you everyone! And enjoy the story!**

Ludwig and Feliciano hefted a pole that they had broke off the bed. Both of them thrusted it into the door's lock with all their might. "Did it work?" Ludwig asked.

Feliciano checked the lock, then turned, with a glowing smile, one eye closed, and a cute mock salute. "Successfully penetrated captain!" Feliciano sing songed.*

"Good" Ludwig was barely holding it together. "Then let's get to work." Both of them proceeded in pushing the pole against the heavy lock.

He couldn't stand it. The way Feliciano had called him captain. The way he had saluted. Even now, Ludwig was surprised to see that the tiny Italian had such nicely shaped muscles. And though small, they were probably powerful from years in the mafia.

"Hey, I'm losing weight on your side, Ludwig!" Feliciano's voice snapped him back to reality.

"Oh, s-sorry!" Ludwig stammered. He continued to push the pole with all his might. After a few moments of silence, he started to become a little concerned. "Hey, Feliciano. Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Probably" Feliciano gasped. He was now certain that some of his wounds were reopening, and it made it hard to breath. But Feliciano ignored this and continued. "I've done this before, remember?"

"Yeah, but you said that was against a wooden door. Wouldn't a metal door be a little bit more impossible to break through with just an old pipe we found?"

Feliciano thought about this for a moment. "Probably. But you're the one who said we shouldn't give up, and we won't. Besides, if this doesn't work, we'll just use plan B."

"And what is plan B?" Ludwig asked skeptically.

Feliciano stopped pushing for a moment. "No idea. But we'll come up with it later. If we even need to." He resumed pushing, and neither of them said a word.

Finally. The Vargas family finally made it to the Braginsky house. Everyone was a little bit nervous, since they've gone way past their territory, but they all held a poker face.

"Let's try the door" Heracles said sleepily. Kiku looked up at the cat that was still miraculously on his head.

Gilbert slipped past the door, watching for a second as Feliciano and Ludwig tried to pry it open. Everything was going according to plan. He accidentally brushed the handle, unlocking it half way.

The two tirelessly worked at prying open the door, or breaking the lock or something. Feliciano said he had done it before, but Ludwig wasn't so sure it would work.

"I don't think we'll get it." Ludwig groaned.

Feliciano heard something click, and suddenly the door gaped. "Look we're almost there!" Feliciano shouted over the groan of the metal door. "We can do this!"

"The door is locked." Kiku stated.

Mathias looked around nervously. "I'm surprised there isn't anyone guarding the place. Where is everyone with the heavy artillery?"

"What if he's not here?" Elizabeta stated. "Then we passed onto their territory for nothing."

"We don't have time for this." Lovino walked up to the door, and gently pushed Kiku away from it. He turned back to the door, and-

Bam!

The front door flew open with a strong kick from Lovino. The metal door swung on the hinges with a loud *bang!* and Feliciano and Ludwig walked out triumphant.

"Come on, we don't have much time. They're sure to have heard that." Feliciano said. They both ran down the hall, trying to find a way out.

"Let's hurry." Lovino said, stepping into the house. "If they didn't know we were here before, they know now." The eight ran into the house.

"Did you hear that?" Alfred said.

"It sounded like two doors breaking in." Wang Yao agreed.

"Well what are you standing there for? Go check it out!" Gilbert yelled. "Half of you check the front door, the other half go check on our guests." Gilbert swiftly walked out of the room.

Feliciano had managed to find the stairs (they were being kept in some sort of elaborate basement), but finding the way out was another matter. Neither had any idea where they were going.

"So, uh, where do we go from here?" Mathew asked sheepishly.

Antonio, barely hearing him, nodded his head. "I have no idea."

"So we're lost" Elizabeta groaned.

Lovino surveyed the room that they had just run into. His eyes fell on a door, he went "ssh!"

Everyone fell silent. The door suddenly swung open, and some Braginsky members filed in. Immediately, guns started firing off. Mathias was against Wang Yao. Elizabeta in a knife fight against Berwald Oxenstierna. Arthur was using some sort of magic against Alfred F. Jones. Natalia Arlovskaya was yelling something like "FOR IVAN" while fighting sword against axe with Antonio. Raivis Galante was dodging... was that a cat? Oh, he was fighting Heracles. Heracles ran to rescue the cat, completely ignoring the fact that they were in a fight.**

Feliciano and Ludwig turned a corner and were surprised to meet three very happy looking Braginskys. Happy in a devious way of course.

"Fuck." Feliciano murmured. "We're screwed."

"Oh, they can't be that hard to take on." Ludwig whispered back. "That one girl's boobs are too big for her to even hold the weapon right."

"I'm not talking about them. Those five are too weak for their own good. I'm worried about-"

A loud laugh came from a man in a mask, standing on top of the staircase that was right in front of them. Apparently, that's why they couldn't find the front door. One level to go.

"Did you miss me?" Sadık asked, a wicked grin on his face as he descended the stairs.

"Sadık. I restate: fuck." Feliciano said to Ludwig.

"You know, I would love to stay and chat, but I'm a little busy right now." Feliciano managed to say.

"Oh, but the party is just getting started." Sadık slowly pulled out a sword. "Why don't you stick around for a while?"

"Um, who is this guy exactly?" Ludwig asked, totally bewildered.

"Your doom." Sadık laughed. He flew towards Feliciano, who barely blocked with the pipe that they used to pry open the door.

The fight wasn't going anywhere. Since Kiku and Lovino had no one to fight, they went around helping random people. Heracles was still trying to find the cat, but Raivis was too afraid to bother attacking him. Alfred was getting nowhere, as both were hiding behind random pillars and couches. The rest were getting pretty tired out.

"Run!" Arthur yelled at Kiku and Lovino, who were currently helping him in a fight. "We'll hold these bloody idiots off, just get our Feliciano!" Kiku bowed, and Lovino nodded his head as the two set off.

"Where do we look?" Kiku asked.

"No idea." Lovino breathed.

***"Succesfully penetrated captain!": Any yaoi fan would immediately think innaproppriately. So just to let you know, yes I did that on purpose.**

****Heracles is very important. I brought him and the cat on purpose, which will be evident later. But it is pretty funny isn't it? I love Greece.**

**Hope you enjoyed! Hasta la pasta!**

**(oh! and p.s.: if anyone who reads this story who happens to live in New Mexico, and was perhaps interested in going to the Hetalia party I'm holding, just letting you know, the date changed. It's now November 10th, and I'll tell the location once I can actually for once in my life remember what the name of the park is.)**


	10. Reunions of all kinds

**Hi!**

**Soooooo sorry I haven't uploaded! I've been so busy with school work and tests and shit coming up, I haven't had time to continure writting. I'm all sad, though, because writting is my life.**

**But ah well, I finally uploaded a new chapter, and if I may say so myself, it is a pretty epic chapter.**

**Again, please tell me if you have any questions or advice, I love feedback. I really really apreciate anything that will make your guys' reading experience more enjoyable.**

**I hope you guys love this chapter as much as I do! Enjoy reading!**

Feliciano thought that he was about to die, when suddenly a full swing from Sadık stopped two inches from Feliciano's face. An arrow sprouted from his shoulder, blood dripping down. Both stared at it in shock. Feliciano thought that somehow Ludwig had found a bow and arrow, but he looked around and saw that Ludwig was single handedly holding all the others off. Feliciano got up and Sadık turned around to see a pale white-

Mathew.

Feliciano lit up. Mathew looked scared to death.

"O-oh no..." he stammered. "D-did I hit the right guy?!" Sadık was about to turn and kill Mathew, but Feliciano simply gave him a whack on the head, knocking him out.

"Yes," Feliciano beamed at the little Canadian. "Yes you did Mathew. Ludwig, let's go!"

"Right!" Ludwig shouted back. He knocked the other two's feet from under them, and ran up to where Feliciano and Mathew were standing. Feliciano couldn't take it. He was so happy that he ran up and hugged a very bewildered Mathew.

"And who is this?" Ludwig asked Feliciano.

"This is Mathew. One of my comrades. Mathew, you are a savior. I can't thank you enough."

The ones that Ludwig was fighting were starting to get back on their feet. "How about thanking me by getting the hell out of here!" Mathew said nervously. The three ran through the door, Feliciano putting the pole through the handle for good measure.

"Wait, if one of your comrades is here, then-"

"Oh!" Feliciano stopped dead in his tracks, cutting of Ludwig. "So, the others are here then Mathew?"

"Wha-? Oh! Yeah! You see, we got in this fight and I was so scared that I slipped away. Then when I was looking for another way out, I heard fighting in another room so I checked it out and I saw this guy about to kill someone so I shot an arrow at him, and it turns out it was you!"

Feliciano was speechless. "Everyone... actually came for me?"

"Oh yeah, Lovino wouldn't stop talking about how something was wrong, and when we all declared it was true, a few of us decided to come and save you."

Feliciano was shocked. Ludwig smiled at his friend, putting an arm around his shoulder. "I told you they would come for you."

Feliciano looked up smiling. "Yeah. You did. But come on, let's save the others then get out of this place."

They all continued running, letting Mathew lead the way.

All of them had somehow managed to get away. No one (except maybe Arthur) knew how, but there was a bright flash of light, and suddenly the five were standing in some sort of living room, all of them exhausted. Well, four. Heracles had left the room to find his cat.

"Alright, let's see if we can catch up with Lovino and Kiku." Arthur said. He looked exhausted, but everyone nodded in silent agreement. The four picked their way down the hallway.

Lovino and Honda Kiku had no idea where they were going.

They were about to turn around and go back to the others when Kiku hushed Lovino and pushed both of them against the wall.

"What is it Kiku?" Lovino whispered.

"I hear voices." Kiku responded. "And footsteps." Kiku pulled his sword and Lovino pulled out his gun. They were getting ready to fight whoever was about to come around the corner. The footsteps got closer, and someone rounded the corner. Both pulled their weapons and-

"Ah! Don't kill me!" Mathew squeaked. Lovino lowered his gun and saw who was standing in front of them. His eyes met with a pair caramel colored eyes and mousse brown hair.

"Ah! L-Lovino!" Feliciano said in surprise. Ludwig eyed them suspiciously. Whoever this "Lovino" was, he sounded like bad news.

Both of them stared at each other for a few seconds, then, out of nowhere, Lovino ran to Feliciano, bringing him in a hug. Mathew and Kiku simply smiled.

"You idiot! You fucking bastard! Why did you spend so much time in town! I've been worried sick!"

Feliciano pulled out, laughing. "Ve~ I'm sorry! I'll explain everything later! You just don't know how happy I am to see you!"

Lovino smiled. He was really happy to see Feliciano, too, knowing that he was safe. "Let's just get home, you idiot. We'll exchange stories when you're safe."

Feliciano nodded. There was nothing else to say.

"Come on." Kiku said. "We have to go find the others. Who knows what trouble they've gotten themselves into." Feliciano nodded and let Lovino and Kiku lead the way.

"I swear, this place is like a labyrinth." Antonio groaned. They've been wandering around for at least half an hour now, trying to find Lovino and Kiku, or at least a trace of where Feliciano could be. The four of them walked tiredly, their legs aching from walking with no rest, and exhaustion seeping in from so many battles. Arthur walked in the front, always on alert for trouble. Antonio was dragging along in the back, grumbling his protest every step. Mathias and Elizabeta were walking in the middle, whispering unintelligible things. A door on the other side of a room they were crossing opened, and everyone raised their weapons.

Antonio's jaw dropped. "Feliciano!" Antonio ran up to his friend and gave him a hug, who laughed in response.

Arthur strolled up to the group. "You're alright then, Don Feli?"

Feliciano smiled. "More or less. But you know you don't have to call me Don."

Mathias and Elizabeta studied the German standing behind Feliciano. "Is that the one?" Elizabeta asked.

Mathias grinned. "Yes. It's the one."

"So, now that we have everyone, please tell me you know where the exit is." Feliciano asked.

Arthur smiled. "Of course we do."

"We do?" Antonio asked.

Lovino face palmed. Arthur sighed. "Yes we do."

Ludwig laughed, the first sound he's made for a long while now. "Well then, let's not waste another minute in this place." Feliciano smiled up at Ludwig.

They all started from hearing footsteps coming down the hall. From two of three doors all the Braginskys suddenly came in (all except Alfred, Gilbert, and Ivan), brandishing their weapons.

"Well you're back, Feli" Antonio whispered. "What should we do?"

"Hm? Oh, me. Um, how about run?"

"Fine with me, let's just go!" Lovino yelled. All of them ran for the only remaining door, the Braginskys not far in pursuit.

They ran down corridors and through rooms, not even watching where they were going. Until they ran into a room that looked vaguely familiar. Feliciano stopped suddenly, everyone finally noticing when they were almost through the door.

"Feliciano, come on!" Mathias shouted.

"I'll be right there. You all keep running, I'll catch up." Feliciano said.

"I'll stay with you." Ludwig persisted.

Feliciano shook his head. "I need to do this alone. Don't worry, I won't get myself caught again."

"Then you'll need this." Lovino walked up to Feliciano, handing him the end of his gun.

Feliciano smiled and took the gun. "It might just come in handy. Alright, you all run, try to find an exit. I'll catch up with you soon, I just need to check something out."

They all nodded their agreement, and went their separate ways.

Feliciano looked around the room. From the random and blurred glimpses that he got, he was sure that this was the room he was kept tied up in while Gilbert and the others... Feliciano shook his head of the thought. He looked around for a while, taking everything in. On the other end of the hall was another door. "Wow," Feliciano thought to himself. "this place really is a labyrinth. Why do they need so many hallways and rooms for only fifteen people?" Feliciano walked over to the door, realizing that it was slightly open. Through it he heard voices, two of them. It sounded like one was threatening the other.

Feliciano cracked the door open and looked through it. He gasped when a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed his shirt, throwing him against the opposite wall.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Gilbert sneered. Feliciano looked up and glared at Gilbert. Ivan Braginsky way standing behind him. Both were panting and bloody. Feliciano realized with a jolt that they had been fighting. An underling turning against a leader like that... the thought was frightening.

"Ah, Don Feliciano. How nice of you to be joining us." Ivan smiled. "I can kill you along with this traitor. Killing two birds with one stone."

Gilbert turned and sneered. "That's my line you damn Russian!"

"I'm your leader because I'm more powerful and actually know how to lead. So you had better be knowing your place."

Feliciano was bewildered by what he was watching. "what is going on?" Feliciano asked.

"What is going on?" Gilbert responded. "It's called a test of powers. Whoever is the most powerful will be the leader."

"And whoever is the weakest will die. Which of course, will be both of you." Ivan finished.

The most awesome fight took place. Feliciano was mesmerized and terrified at the same time. Gilbert attacked with a knife that was strapped to his leg, Ivan responding by blocking with a dagger that was hidden under his cloak. They seemed to dance around each other, dodging attacks that Feliciano could never even dream of avoiding.

A few seconds later, Feliciano stood up, horrified at what he was looking at.*

***"A few seconds later, Feliciano stood up, horrified at what he was looking at.": I love this chapter. I'm guessing you hate the sudden clifhanger? muahahaha, well you're just going to have to wait and see what happens next time. I'm pretty sure they're going to escape in the next chapter, but we'll all just see what happens and how much I'm able to actually write. I'll try uploading again tomorrow, but I have no promises for the week.**

**Anyways, that's about all I have to say today! Till next time!**

**Goodbye!**


	11. Bitter sweet

**Hi!**

**OMG I thought this chapter was longer. Honestly.**

**Anyways, you guys made my day! I kept getting these reviews and I was so happy that I went around my house bragging to everyone I could. Hehe... I love you guys :3**

**So anyways, here's your chapter! Quick funny/sad story. Sad part, I have tests this week, so since I have a lot of studying to do along with a crapload of homework, I probably won't be able to post a new chapter for a while. I know, I know, I almost got a heart attack when I realized this. But funny part: because we're taking the test the same day as halloween (stupid teachers), they're not allowing us to come dressed up in costume. So in other words, I'm the only one that actually can. I'm coming dressed as N. Italy, and since it's just casual wear (homemade costumes, sometimes you have to improvise and not be all badass like the stuff that Italy usually wears), I can come dressed as Italy, and no one will suspect a thing! Muahahahahaha!**

**Yeah, I have no life. Me being evil is breaking one not even rule of the school.**

**Anyways, enjoy this chapter!**

Feliciano stood up, horrified at what he was looking at. In front of him, Gilbert stood behind Ivan, a sneer on his face. Gilbert pulled his knife out, and Ivan's body crumbled.

Gilbert laughed. "There. My plan is going perfectly. Thank you, Feliciano, for your undivided attention. Now you can die." Gilbert charged at Feliciano, who barely dodged the attack. Feliciano burst through the door, trying to get away. He had completely forgot that he could defend himself, or that he even had a gun. He just wanted to get to safety. Gilbert pursued him until Feliciano, who was very quick on his feet, rounded a corner, losing Gilbert.

Down the same hall, Feliciano caught up with the others, as they all tried to catch their breath.

"so" Ludwig panted. "Do any of you have any idea where we are or where we are going?"

"Not at all." Kiku breathed. Even he seemed exhausted.

Arthur stood up. He acted fine, but one look and everyone could tell he was about to collapse. "I know where we are." Arthur said. "Let's just rest first."

"We don't need rest, we just need to get out of here." Feliciano said. He wanted to get out the most, partly because they were all technically after him, partly because of what he'd just seen. A soldier going against his leader like that... Well it makes a fellow _Capo Crimini_ wonder.

"Feliciano!" Arthur's voice jolted him back to reality.

"What?" Feliciano breathed, surprised by the sudden shout.

"I was saying it looks like you need rest more than any of us. You look like you're about to faint."

Feliciano merely nodded his head.

Ludwig walked up to him. "Hey, are you ok?" he asked.

Feliciano took a deep breath. "I'll tell everyone later. But I'm fine.

Ludwig didn't believe Feliciano, but he could tell that the Italian needed to be left alone.

They were allowed rest for about ten minutes before they heard doors banging and shouting from the direction they had come from. The door flew open and before they could react Arthur twirled around and held his hands out, a bright blue light coming from his hands and shutting the door on whoever was trying to go through it. Arthur nearly collapsed, but Feliciano caught him.

"What the hell did you just do?" Lovino shouted.

"No time to explain, just run!" Arthur shouted back. Everyone snapped to attention and began to run, Arthur leading them the right way. They all followed without asking another question.

They were almost free. The group of nine ran into the room where some of them had previously fought.* Kiku looked in the corner and sighed at Heracles, who was still trying to coax out the cat. Suddenly the opposite door burst open, and the group stopped in their tracks.

Standing in the doorway was a very pissed off Alfred F Jones. He pointed a gun straight at Feliciano's head.

"You" he panted. "are not going anywhere." Feliciano growled in response. "I have had just about enough-"

Heracles swung around and his... staff, he called it... whacked Alfred in the head, and knocked him down. Heracles, completely disregarding the unconscious body, held up the cat to Kiku.

"Look" Heracles said. "I found the cat."**

Kiku barely smiled, but he was obviously very happy for his strange friend. "He's very cute. What's his name?"

"We don't have time for this!" Lovino said. "Let's just go!" They all continued running, Kiku grabbing Heracles along the way.

They all jumped over Alfred's body, and soon caught sight of the front door. They were about to cheer, when they were blocked by Katyusha Braginskaya, Berwald Oxenstierna, Tino Väinämöinen, Gupta Muhammad Hassan, and Raivis Galante. All of them growled, weapons brandished, waiting to attack. The Vargas's were about to turn back, when they were surrounded by Wang Yao, Sadık Beilschmidt, Bella (no one knew her last name), Natasha Arlovskaya, and Eduard von Bock. Casually walking up to the front from behind them, was a wild look in his eyes, was Gilbert Beilschmidt, who was still all bloody from the battle.

"See what I told you," Gilbert jeered, pointing at none other than Feliciano. "He kills our beloved leader, then flees and attempts to make an escape. How disgraceful. Feliciano needs to be taught a lesson." Everyone was caught off guard, especially Feliciano. He couldn't believe Gilbert was making this crazy claim!

"You killed Ivan Braginsky?" Kiku asked.

"No... No he's lying!" Feliciano shouted. "You are the one that killed Ivan! I've never seen such treachery."

"And now you're putting the blame on me?" Gilbert shook his head. "How shameful. Who do you think they're honestly going to believe?" The Braginskys raised their weapons. At the same time, the Vargas's ran for the front door, Ludwig and Antonio taking the lead, easily overwhelming those standing in the way of the door. The rest followed through, fending off attacks from either side. Feliciano was the last to go through, making sure the door was closed after he went through it. They all ran for the gate, fifteen seconds later hearing the front door bang open, and the Braginskys going through it, chasing the Vargas and shooting at them as much as they could. The Vargas ran through the gate, and didn't stop running until they were well passed the Braginsky territory, and onto their own. Even then they slowed down. but didn't stop running until they all were safely back at the house.

All of them panted from exhaustion. Ludwig looked around and couldn't believe what just happened. And he couldn't help it. He just started laughing. Everyone stared at him, but he didn't care. A smile crept across Arthur's face who began chuckling, then broke into a laugh.

"I can't believe we just did that! Oh mein gott! Das ist verrückt!"*** Ludwig laughed. Everyone looked around and started laughing, unable to believe that they actually escaped.

Ludwig turned to Feliciano, his eyes because he was crying from laughing too hard. " Wasn't that awesome Feli? It was so much fun!" Ludwig opened his eyes and frowned. "Feli? Are you ok?" One by one everyone looked up and stopped laughing. Antonio was the last to realize that he was laughing alone, then looked up and saw why.

Feliciano was doubled over, his full weight being supported by the fence post. blood was trickling down to the floor from several places on his small body. Slowly he looked up.

"Yeah..." he whispered, barely able to breathe, much less talk, from the exhaustion and pain overwhelming him. "I'm so glad we all got out." He fell to the floor unconscious. Ludwig and Lovino rushed over to him, carefully turning him over. Ludwig retrieved his jacket, which he lent to Feliciano before they left the cell room. Behind it, Feliciano's chest was covered in cuts and bruises, all bleeding. Ludwig looked at his coat. A little blood stained, but that's not what he cared about. Ludwig lined up his jacket with Feliciano's chest and gasped.

"There." He pointed at a two inch hole in his jacket. "Literally an inch from his heart. Feliciano was shot."

Lovino looked at his brother in shock. He couldn't say anything. He was terrified that he was going to lose Feliciano. Suddenly Arthur came up behind the two, and tenderly picked Feliciano up.

"I'll take care of our fearless leader. I am the medic after all." Arthur said. Lovino nodded, and him and Ludwig stood up. Arthur walked into the house, bringing Feliciano to his room.

"I hope Feli is ok..." Antonio muttered.

"Yeah." Ludwig agreed.

They all stood staring into the house for a few minutes. Then, out of nowhere, Mathias came up to Ludwig, grinning wildly. "So," he began. Ludwig looked at him curiously. "Remind me, who exactly you are again?"

***"The group of nine ran into the room where some of them had previously fought.": Even though this is a short chapter, I have a lot to say about it. And the only thing about this was that I kept changing the number because I was so confused as to how many people were actually there. I spent like an hour rewriting that part just to make sure I had all the right people. So just to clarrify, at that point the people there is Feliciano, Ludwig, Arthur, Kiku, Lovino, Antonio, Mathias, Mathew, and Elizabeta. The original eight came, leaving Heracles to find his cat, and they saved Ludwig and Feliciano. 8-1=7 and 7+2=9! I'm so proud I can math. Maybe I am learning something after all!**

****"Look" Heracles said. "I found the cat.": If you are a Greece fan like I am, no further explanation is needed. But if you aren't, then all you need to know is that he and his cats are so cute, and I just thought that this would be funny.**

*****"I can't believe we just did that! Oh mein gott! Das ist verrückt!": "I can't believe we just did that! Oh my god! This is insane!": I always pictured Ludwig, whenever he stops being a soldier and is suddenly thrown back into it, would be really bewildered and clueless when he's thrown back in. I mean, haven't you all thought that? You haven't? o.O ... Wow, this is awkward.**

**Lol, quick funniness. I was at a restaurant with my family and a few friends, and my sister and I were going crazy. For instance singing the "I like trains" song and the "mine turtle" song in public. But anyways, she was eating shrimp, and I look at her and I was just like, "Brianna. Brianna. This shrimp just got real." She just cracked up.**

**So now I say to you, relating to what's going on this story.**

**Dudes. Dudes. Like holy fucking crap. This shrimp just got real.**

**Tehe. Alright I'm done. Good bye. I hope I can publish again soon.**

**Arrivederci! (I'm so happy because it's Italian!)**


	12. Rude Awakening

**Hi!**

**OMFG I cannot believe this. You people are so awesome! Seriously, makes my day.**

**And on another note, I can not believe that I was actually able to upload this chapter! Took me like three hours to write, cause I was doing it inbetween homework and youtube. I seriously hate my teachers. TOO MUCH FUCKING HOMEWORK!**

**Ok, I have two questions, one will come at the end if you want to read it (it has to do with another fanfic).**

**The first one though, is what would you all like me to do with the M rating? I already have the yaoi scene written out, but I was wondering what you, the viewers, would like me to do with it? Would you like me to add in like full on buttsex in a chapter of this story, or only hint at it and maybe do a separate one shot going into detail if you all are interested in reading it. Your choice!**

**Anyways, that's all for now, so enjoy the story! (BTW I won't be able to post till like thursday or Friday)**

_*I feel as though my thoughts aren't being heard. I talk and talk, but no one listens. What happened? They used to look up to me. Everyone would look to me as the leader, ask me for help, even let me be the one to take the kill shot with mobbing and prisoners. But now... everything is different. They look at me, some with terror, some with suspicion. They don't trust me. No one believes I can lead them anymore. Not even my own brother..._

Feliciano woke with a start, not recognizing the room he was in. He looked around, trying to remember what happened. They escaped and ran back to their own house... and then what? Something about... Ludwig. Feliciano bolted up to a sitting position, panting hard. Where was he? Was he ok? Feliciano caught sight of a desk, and tried to make his way to it. He managed to get up and pick his way to the desk. On it was a few old books, some papers, a handgun with ammo, and a picture that was turned upside down. Feliciano was about to turn it over to look at the picture, when the door swung open.**

"Feeling better?" Arthur was standing in the door way, his arms crossed. Feliciano put the picture down and smiled at Arthur.

"I should have known." Feliciano said. "This is your room, isn't it? I've never actually been in here."

"Same as I've been in your office, but never your actual room." Arthur walked over to Feliciano, forcing him back to the bed. "You had some nasty wounds there, Don Feli." Arthur looked at Feliciano skeptically, trying to hide his emotions. But Feliciano always had a natural talent for seeing right through people, while no one can ever see through him.

"You think I'm incapable of taking care of myself, Arthur?"

"I never-"

"That was a rhetorical question." Feliciano smirked. Arthur sighed and continued checking on every bandage and wound there was.

After Arthur declared that Feliciano was fine, but should take it easy, they both headed for the door.

"Ah, one more thing, Arthur." Feliciano said as Arthur was going through the door.

He turned around. "What is it?"

"I was just wondering... how long have I been out?"

Arthur smiled. "A few days. But don't worry, nothing has happened. No attacks. Everyone is safe. And yes, everyone." Arthur turned and walked out the door. Feliciano wondered what he meant by that.

Feliciano carefully made his way downstairs. Everything was normal it seemed, a fire burning in the fire place, guns and trophies all perfectly organized. Feliciano chuckled. Ah, Kiku, cleaning anything and everything again. He's like the perfect housewife.***

No one was in the living room, so Feliciano walked to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Just thinking about food made him a bit sick to his stomach, but he figured he should eat something anyway.

In the kitchen, someone was standing near the stove, humming happily. Feliciano knew who it was right away, from the tune they were humming and the smell of food coming from the stove.

"Antonio!"

Antonio turned, surprised by someone suddenly calling his name. He nearly dropped the pan he was holding when he found out who it was. Antonio carefully set the pan back on the stove, then ran over to Feliciano to give him a hug.

"Feli! You're ok! We were all so worried about you, I was beginning to think you would never wake up! How are you, are you in any pain?"

Feliciano laughed. "I'm fine! A little sore, but at least I'm on my feet."

Antonio broke from the hug, an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry, me Feli! I forgot that sometimes my hugs can hurt."

"No, it's all good. It didn't hurt at all. In fact it felt a little good. I'm glad to see that you're ok too."

"Oh yes, Arthur did a great job healing all of us up." Feliciano noticed a twinge of confusion pass over Antonio's face, but it passed just as quickly. "But you know what, everyone will be so happy to see you! We're all great, there hasn't been any further attacks."

"What does "everyone" mean exactly?" Feliciano pondered, not realizing he said it out loud.

"What?" Antonio asked.

"Ah! N-nothing, just Arthur said the same thing to me earlier. Do you know what "everyone" includes?"

"I don't think so..." Antonio thought for a second, then his face lit up. "Yes I do!"

"What then?" Feliciano asked. Antonio smiled, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"You'll just have to wait and see." Antonio chuckled. Feliciano was a little upset by Arthur and now Antonio being straight forward, but he was also excited to find out what it was.

"You know, everyone is in the drawing room waiting for food which I'm making now. Would you like to maybe help with making the food? Then after I can present you to everyone." Yet again Antonio smiled, barely able to contain his excitement. The thought of food still made Feliciano a little sick, but he agreed to it anyway.

"Are you absolutely certain?" Francis asked for the hundredth time. "How do you know?"

Gilbert sighed. They were sitting at the usual table, Gilbert at the head where Ivan used to sit. As the second in command, since Ivan's unfortunate demise, Gilbert was now automatically promoted to Capo Crimini, the official leader of the Braginskys. "Yes, I'm certain. I saw it with my own eyes."

Francis didn't believe Gilbert. He already knew that Gilbert was planning to kill Ivan, but the fact that the other leader, Feliciano Vargas, who also wanted to kill Ivan, was there... well that changed everything. Now there is no telling who is telling the truth and who is the one that actually killed Ivan. And since the only other one who saw it happen is dead, they have no choice. Out of the five simple rules of a mafia family, Gilbert (if he did kill Ivan) is breaking three of them. And since Francis didn't want to be punished for not being obedient to the new leader, he decided to keep his mouth shut.****

"So now what do we do?" Wang Yao asked.

"Well, you tell me," Gilbert grinned. "You are familiar with the rules, aren't you? As Capo Regime, what should we do?"

Wang Yao smiled. "Well, revenge is sweet. If Feliciano Vargas killed our respected leader, then we need to avenge him."

Gilbert knew it was going to work. He knew exactly how to go about this. "Well said. You prepare your soldiers, and I'll tell you our plan when the time comes. But for now, hang tight. We need to give them some time to relax and get comfortable first."

Lovino looked around. They were in the drawing room, waiting for Antonio to finish making the meal. A couple of people were playing cards, some more goofing off around the pool tables. "Why is that damn bastard taking so long anyway? He should have been done by now!" Lovino had heard talking coming from the kitchen earlier, but knowing him he was just talking to himself. Arthur came back from checking up on Feliciano, but they have learned not to ask Arthur any questions about that anymore. It was too terrible. Lovino stopped checking up on Feliciano, because after Feli hadn't woken up after a couple of days, Lovino started to cry every time he saw Feliciano lying there unconscious on the bed.

The door to the kitchen finally swung open, revealing Antonio carrying several plates and silverware. He walked in, the door swinging shut. He carried the plates to the pool table, then stood up, as if waiting for something.

"Well?" Lovino asked angrily.

"Well what?" Antonio asked.

"Where's the food?! How come you're not bringing it?" Lovino yelled.

"Oh that!" Antonio laughed. "Don't worry, my little helper is just putting the finishing touches." Antonio winked.

"Little helper?" Lovino looked around. Everyone was present. "Who are you-" the door swung open.

"Hey, can you help me with this Antonio? I can't hold everything!" Feliciano walked through the door, trying to balance a platter of food along with several cups and a wine bottle. Antonio rushed over, laughing.

"I didn't think you'd go all out, Feli!"

"Well, I figured we should celebrate!" The two of them set everything down, laughing. "Besides, you know I love going all out!" Feliciano looked around the room. His eyes fell on Lovino, who was standing right behind him.

"Feliciano... you're ok."

Feliciano smiled. "Yeah. It seems I am." they hugged, grateful to see each other again. "So."

"So what?"

"So let's eat!"

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Lovino asked.

"Hm? Forgetting someone? I see everyone here."

Kiku walked up. "Someone you came here with, maybe?"

"Guys, I am seriously not getting this. Can't you just tell me who it is?"

No one said a word. From another room, a light turned off and a door on the opposite side opened. Feliciano stared.

"L-Ludwig?" Feliciano took a step back.

Ludwig looked up, baffled. "Feliciano!"

"I... I didn't think you would stay."

"I didn't think you would wake up to see me staying."

Feliciano had no idea what to say. He could tell by the looks on everyone else's faces that Ludwig had already told them everything. Ludwig walked up and wrapped his arms around Feliciano. There was nothing left to say.

Eventually, over dinner and wine, Feliciano was caught up on what happened while he was "indisposed". Apparently Mathias and Elizabeta grilled Ludwig hard on everything that happened while Feliciano was in town. He was quiet at first, but eventually gave in. He said this, which made Feliciano blush:

_"Yes, ok? I met Feliciano in town, and we started hanging out. After less than a day, I was in love. Both of us were. We went to movies and restaurants, went on romantic walks, even kissed a few times. But that doesn't make either of us any less of a man. Feliciano is the bravest, smartest man I ever met. Nothing will change that. So why don't you shut the hell up and get off my case before I pummel you."_

Apparently after that Mathias shut up, and no further words were said about the matter.

Another topic that was brought up was what they were going to do about the Braginskys. With Gilbert as the new Capo Crimini, it couldn't be good. But since no one on either side was ready for another attack, they all figured they should just discuss it later.

After dinner, after everything was all talked out, the Vargas family went to the fireplace and sat there, drinking beer or wine. Feliciano studied every face carefully. Each and every person was thinking about either Feliciano or Gilbert Beilschmidt. Some faces were contorted with worry, others showing their doubt and skepticism. Lovino's was a mix of both. Antonio was so oblivious to everything that the only thing on his face was ignorant bliss, probably thinking about food or tomatoes. Heracles was asleep, but it was easy to tell he was also worried about an inevitable attack. Even Kiku seemed worried, but whenever he chanced a glance at Feliciano, his face showed doubt.

Feliciano looked at Ludwig.

"What should we do?" Feliciano whispered to him.

"Go to bed." Ludwig whispered back. "I'm tired."

"That's not what I meant. What should you and I do about our relationship?"

Ludwig thought for a second. "People are still analyzing us, aren't they." it wasn't a question. Both of them knew.

"Yeah." Feliciano responded anyways. "Trying to figure out if I'm a good enough leader or not. It's easy to tell. I want you to stay with me, but on the other hand-"

"You're worried about my safety. From both the Braginskys and people in your own family."

Feliciano nodded his head.

"Well don't worry." Ludwig stared into the fire, snuggling up to Feliciano and grabbing his hand. "I can take care of myself. You can take care of yourself. And besides, we promised, didn't we?"

Feliciano remembered the promise they made in the cell.

_"I lied to you. I put you in danger and got you in this position. I'm sorry..."_

_"I don't get it, how did you do this to me? It's not your fault-"_

_"Yes it is!" Feliciano shouted. "Don't you understand? I'm the leader of the mafia, I kill people, and others have grudges against me, and they don't care who gets in the way! If you stay with me, you'll get hurt." Feliciano was close to tears, but to his surprise Ludwig just smiled._

_"I know. And I understand. But I don't think you do. I don't care about all that stuff. If you're in trouble then I'll be there to help. And I don't doubt that if I'm ever in danger, you'll come running. No matter what happens, I'll be by your side. I promise."_

_Feliciano didn't expect this. A few tears rolled down his cheeks, but Ludwig wiped them away. "Yeah. It's a promise." They made it official by a kiss.*****_

"Yeah" Feliciano whispered, leaning into the German. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of the warm, bright fire, feeling the soft touch of the strong German, the rise and fall of his chest, the way he played with Feliciano's fingers as they wrapped their hands around each other. "We did promise."

**_*"I feel as though my thoughts aren't being heard. I talk and talk, but no one listens. What happened? They used to look up to me. Everyone would look to me as the leader...": _In case this confused you, this was just sort of Feliciano's inner thoughts while he was sleeping. I did the same thing at the beginning of this story in the first chapter. Feliciano was asleep and kind of thinking in his dreams, then Lovino I beleive wakes him up. If you didn't catch that the first time, then I'm sorry for not explaining it, I was just so excited to post the new chapter that I forgot to comment and explain things. :3**

****"...and a picture that was turned upside down. Feliciano was about to turn it over to look at the picture, when the door swung open.":The only thing I'm saying is... SPOILELRS!**

*****"Ah, Kiku, cleaning anything and everything again. He's like the perfect housewife.": It's from this commonly known quote, pretty much making fun of Japan when he's going around cleaning Germany's house: "Japan. The new definition of House wife."**

******I'm not going to quote the whole thing, but pretty much all I wanted to say was that this Francis dialogue has several refrences to the positions of people on the mafia, and the five rules in a mafia family. The three rules that Francis mentions is the first rule (code of silence), the second rule (complete obedience), and the fourth rule (vengeance). I highly recommend you all check out the rules and names and everything again, it's the first chapter labeled "Introduction".**

*******Just a reference to the 8th chapter. So sweet!**

**Whew, I had a lot to say today. Sorry if I bored you! So yet again, I highly recommend reviewing the first intro chapter. This chapter was more like what's going on and what happened while FEliciano was unconscious. And I forgot to mention earlier, but the part with Gilbert and Francis happened the day after Feliciano and Ludwig broke out of jail. So it was technically a flashback, but I just didn't feel like saying it was in the story.**

**And if you read the beginning and was curious as to what I wanted to talk to you all about, here it is.**

**So, one day I was having a dream that I was writing a fanfic on Dark!Japan, and suddenly the fanfic turned to reality, and I was Japan. The dream was actually really cool, and surprisingly enough I remember pretty much all of it. So I woke up and was all like "This is actually a good idea! I should write this!" I haven't actually started writing it yet, but I'm definitely going to. SO my question is if you all would like me to post it on this website. And that's about all.**

**If you want further explanation as to what the story is about, ask me and I'll write a sort of summary for it in the next chapter.**

**I swear, I am so ADHD. I ramble every chance I get, even when I'm writing.**

**So sorry for boring the crap out of you, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you all next time!**


	13. What is it you want?

**Hi!**

**Holy crap I wrote a lot. Sorry if you get bored. I know I didn't post when I promised I would, but I'm going to try to keep up with it more. And I'm just going to say this: I FUCKING HATE TEACHERS. Two projects, two tests, a completely knew subject to learn in physics and government, and ALL in the same week! And all the day after I took that stupid ass PSAT test. Which actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but STILL!**

**Ok, rambling over. Yet again, sorry for not posting for a while. This chapter is pretty much catching up what happened while I was away being a bad girl and not writing. And sorry about hose of you who wanted me to write the Dark!Japan fanfic, I started it, but I don't have nearly enough for a chapter to post it yet.**

**BTW, cliffhanger again at the end! Mwuahahahaha! I'm so evil. But don't worry, it will all be explained later.**

**Enjoy the chapter! I'll try to post more either tomorrow or on monday. :3**

"Take my word for it" Arthur opened the door to Feliciano's office. "He'll be happy to see you."

Arthur left the office, a smirk on his face. Feliciano sighed, fingering the new cross around his neck. This was going to be a long day.

Feliciano decided to take a nap before leaving to see Ludwig again. It was late, and he hadn't slept for a few days. Although, it wasn't all that bad. Feliciano smiled as he lied down for a quick nap. He kept thinking over and over again the same thing. Ludwig. His eyes closed slowly.

_Let me recap. It's been a while._

The other day, Feliciano had the best day of his life.

It started off with a few good-byes as Ludwig got prepared to head back into town. Ludwig had been in the house for at least a week, and Feliciano knew that that wasn't a good thing. Feliciano was a bit upset, but he didn't show it. After all, he was the one who suggested that Ludwig went back to town to get his apartment and find a job. And stay as far away from the mafia's crimes as possible. Feliciano didn't want Ludwig to get involved in this stuff. They had a quick kiss good-bye.

"Can't you stay with me a little longer? Why in such a hurry?" Feliciano whispered in Ludwig's ear. They were standing at the gate, the others waiting in the doorway. Ludwig laughed, Feliciano feeling Ludwig's smile pressed on his cheek.

"Remember why the day we got captured was so special?"

Feliciano looked up confused. Obviously he didn't remember at all.

"Um... you wanted to do something fun with me, right?"

Ludwig laughed. Feliciano was so cute. "Almost. I have something I want to give you. Nothing too big, but why don't you visit me later and come see what it is?"

Feliciano was excited, and at the same time really anxious to see what it was. "When should I come?"

"Surprise me" Ludwig whispered, tickling Feliciano's ear. Feliciano shuddered. The thoughts running through his head at that moment were delightfully obscene.* With one more passionate kiss, Ludwig set off back to town. Being, of course, driven by Honda Kiku, who was watching the whole thing. His smile at Feliciano was terribly wicked, as if Kiku was already planning on writing something about this. And Feliciano knew exactly what Kiku would write about. He had been in his room before. Feliciano took one look at what Kiku had called "yaoi" and "hentai" and never went into Kiku's room again.**

Feliciano couldn't stand the wait. He couldn't sleep at all. He couldn't stop thinking about it. Even through a mundane day of normal chores, making sure everything was in order, and making plans for whatever the next attack was going to be. Feliciano never payed any attention to it, though. His mind kept wandering. Wondering what was going to happen whenever he broke down and visited Ludwig. Wondering about what Ludwig had planned. Something at the back of his mind kept nagging "don't see him. It's dangerous. You'll both be killed. Things will just turn out worse than they did last time." But Feliciano ignored these thoughts and continued fantasizing about Ludwig.

The next day came, and at around twelve o clock, Feliciano couldn't take it anymore. He took the car (a very dangerous thing to do) and drove to the address where Ludwig was now staying at.***

It was a pretty nice apartment complex. The building was in fact an old mansion, where every room was big enough to house like ten people at one time. And it had at least 100 rooms. Feliciano hadn't thought of it before, but now that he added everything up he realized how obvious it was. Ludwig was filthy rich. That's why he reacted so calmly at every fancy restaurant, every mansion they visited and drove by. Feliciano wondered while he walked up the steps if they had any nice fancy buildings and beautiful landmarks like they did in Italy. Probably. Feliciano always pictured Germany to be a really nice place.

There it was. Apartment b15. Feliciano gulped. He was surprised to find how nervous he was. After all, it was just Ludwig. He's been with Ludwig for a while now, and they've been through the worst already. Why was simply knocking a door to greet a friend so difficult? Was it the piercing blue eyes? The way his smile and laugh made Feliciano's face warm and heart pound, even though Feliciano had no idea why? Feliciano shook his head of these thoughts and was about to knock on the door when it flew open.

Feliciano stammered. "L-Ludwig! I w-was just about to-"

"Y-yeah, me too. This place is nice, but I hate it because I don't get to see you."

Feliciano laughed. "I was thinking the same thing! It's so boring around the house without you there now. We do nothing all day!"

"I know how you feel. It's like when I don't have anything to do, I end up doing everything. I once even cleaned my whole house twice, and it wasn't exactly a small house, either."

Feliciano laughed, his smile bright and his eyes screwed tight from laughing. "I do the same thing! If I don't have anything to do, then I end up doing the strangest things! I once cleaned out my whole office, found a gun, and nearly shot Lovino in the head when he came in and scared me!"

"No way!"

"I didn't mean to, it was an accident. He took the gun away from me, though. It was pretty funny."

"I can actually imagine that happening. But anyways, so I'm guessing you came here for your gift?"

"Not really." Feliciano smiled, his big eyes looking up at Ludwig. "I just couldn't wait to see you again." Ludwig laughed and planted a kiss on Feliciano's cheek.

"Well good, 'cause you're going to have to wait for it a little longer!"

"Aw!" Feliciano groaned. "I wanted it now."

"I knew that was the only reason you came to see me." Ludwig walked out of the room and walked past a confused Feliciano.

"W-wait! I was just joking, Ludwig! Come on!" Ludwig was already making his way down the stairs, Feliciano running to catch up. "Ludwig! Come on, it was a joke!"

Ludwig opened the front door and stepped through it, Feliciano following right behind.

"You really aren't going to say anything? I said I was joking." Feliciano pouted. Ludwig turned and kissed Feliciano on the lips, catching him off guard. Ludwig pulled back to see a bright red Feliciano.

"I didn't say anything because there was nothing to be said. Of course I knew you were joking. That's why I joked with you too."

Feliciano smiled, his cheeks warm. He leaned into Ludwig for another kiss. It was long and passionate, sloppy and wet. Perfect. Feliciano couldn't stop thinking about how great Ludwig felt. How soft, how warm, how strong. Feliciano loved him. And Ludwig was right. There was nothing more to be said.

After what seemed like forever, they broke, trying to catch their breath.

"So," Ludwig asked after a few seconds. "Do you want to drive? I can just tell you where to go."

"Two things you need to know about Italians, Ludwig. We're the most dangerous and flirtatious, and you never let an Italian drive unless it's an emergency. I realized this after I nearly broke Kiku the last time I drove him into town. In fact, he almost killed me with his sword afterwards."

Ludwig laughed. "So I guess I'm driving."

"That would probably be wise." Ludwig took the driver's seat, and Feliciano took shot gun. With a small smile at each other, they took off.

The day really was a treat. Going from place to place, going everywhere but not really doing anything but talking. They got ice cream, and, of course, Feliciano got it all over his face. They kissed and hugged and snuggled everywhere they went, not paying attention to everyone staring at them.

And it was around five in the afternoon when it all went south. Well, sort of.

"You see, that actress actually used to-"

"Hey!" a voice shouted, interrupting Feliciano's story.

Feliciano looked around, then face palmed.

"What is it?" Ludwig asked.

"You know how we were talking this morning about what you need to know about Italians?"

"Yeah...?"

"Give me the wheel." Ludwig looked at Feliciano confused. Ludwig was about to get into the driver's seat, and Feliciano was about to get into the seat next to him.

"But I was about to-"

"Ludwig, this is an emergency! Give me the wheel!" Ludwig hesitantly threw Feliciano the keys, who then jumped over the hood of the car and whirled into the driver's seat. "Either go in the back, or ride shotgun, but you're going to need to hang on to something." Ludwig ran to the other side of the car, sitting in the seat next to Feliciano. Sirens wailed just as Feliciano turned on the car and shifted the gear.

"Sorry in advance" Feliciano apologized.

"Sorry for what?" Feliciano slammed on the gas, Ludwig slamming back against the seat roughly.

Ludwig was holding on for dear life as Feliciano sped down the street, the police in hot pursuit. He somehow managed to avoid every obstacle and car in his way, jerking the car at the last second every time.

"Why does that police man recognize you?" Ludwig shouted over the noise. "We've passed several cops, and none of them looked at you twice!"

"A few years back I got in a gun fight with his partner. The partner ended up dying. This guy ran away instead of manning up and facing me. I guess he has a good memory though."

"I always forget that you kill people."

"Ready to dump me yet?"

"Never." They smiled at each other. More wailing sirens pursued them. All of a sudden a bag flew out of Ludwig's hands and onto the sidewalk.

"No! Feliciano, please go back!"

"What, are you insane?!"

"Please, it's important!"

Feliciano growled, but gave in. "I hope you know I'm not stopping. So you better be prepared." In response Ludwig undid his seatbelt and unlocked the door. Feliciano, without stopping, threw the gear in reverse. The wheels squeaked in protest but gave in and after a long, tense second of stopping completely, the car jumped in reverse, surpassing all the confused police cars. Feliciano didn't bother going back forward, but instead continued in reverse as Ludwig opened the door, getting ready to catch whatever he had been holding.

They were getting close to it. "Hang on!" Feliciano threw the car in drive and turned onto the sidewalk, Ludwig grabbing the bag. "Put it in the glove compartment!" Ludwig followed his instructions as Feliciano cut through traffic and went to the right side of the road. The police tried to catch up, but by now Feliciano had caused too many accidents so even they were stuck in traffic and had to stop their pursuit. Feliciano didn't stop driving till they were safely back to the apartment. Ludwig had to sneak Feliciano past the lobby because every TV was showing his face as he did all his crazy stunts. They both shut and locked the door, falling behind it laughing.

"That was amazing! How did we get away with that?" Ludwig laughed.

"I told you. You only let Italians drive when it's an emergency. And that kind of was. At least I didn't kill anybody this time."

"No, you didn't. I'm proud of you." They smiled at one another for a few seconds, until the silence got a little uncomfortable. Feliciano was getting hotter by the second, and he had to do something to distract himself.

"So... what was in that bag you were so desperate to save?"

"Oh! I nearly forgot!" Ludwig gingerly took a rectangle box out of the bag. Feliciano stared at it curiously. "It's not a big deal. The gift was supposed to be the places I took you, then at the end of the day I gave you this on the docks, but it didn't really turned out the way I wanted it to. So, uh, here you go." Ludwig handed Feliciano the box and Feliciano carefully undid the wrapping and took off the lid. Inside was a necklace with a black cross hanging from the chain.

"It's not much," Ludwig said sheepishly, pulling a similar necklace out of his pocket, walking close to Feliciano. "But I thought you'd like it."

Feliciano smiled, his cheeks red and his eyes burning. "I love it. No one has ever given something like this to me before."

"Really? Not even in your family?"

Feliciano shook his head. "No. The most I've gotten from them is a bottle of wine and a night out raiding the town. I mean it's fun and all, but not at all special like this." Feliciano wrapped his arms around the other, squeezing him in a hug and wishing that he never had to let go. "Grazie. Grazie mille."****

Ludwig leaned down and kissed Feliciano on the lips. "No need to say thank you. You've already done so much for me." Ludwig continued to kiss Feliciano, slowly moving from his lips, down his neck. Feliciano dug his fingers into Ludwig's arms, trying not to get too aroused. Ludwig began unbuttoning Feliciano's shirt, Feliciano getting hotter, despite his efforts to keep himself under control. Ludwig continued to kiss and lick the Italian's chest, going lower and lower the more he unbuttoned.

"L-Ludwig..." Feliciano panted. Ludwig began unbuckling Feliciano's pants, the latter squeezing the former even harder, his fingernails accidentally digging into his friend's shoulders. "L-Ludwig, s-stop."

Ludwig pulled Feliciano's pants down, then stood up to face the other. "If you wanted me to stop, then surely you would have stopped me by now."

Feliciano laughed weakly. "I guess you're right." They shared a kiss and Feliciano decided to give in. He began unbuttoning Ludwig's jacket, and taking off his shirt. Before he could do any more, Ludwig picked him up and carried him to the bedroom. They fell on the bed, their lips never parting. Ludwig was on top, and began yet again to move down Feliciano's body. This time Feliciano didn't protest, and instead enjoyed every kiss, every lick, every moment. They both played with each other, panting, laughing, and loving.

The whole night was a dream, Ludwig's head spinning the whole time. He had no idea what he was doing when he unbuttoned Feliciano's shirt. In fact he didn't even realize that he was doing it until Feliciano dug his nails into Ludwig's arms. He wasn't thinking it through. But he enjoyed it. They both fell asleep at around three in the morning, arms around each other, bodies and fingers all entangled. But when Ludwig woke up the next morning, Feliciano wasn't there. He quickly put some pants on, and followed his nose into the kitchen. In the kitchen, Feliciano was humming happily, making something that smelled delicious. Ludwig snuck up behind him, grabbing his waist. Feliciano shot almost a foot in the air, nearly dropping all the food he was cooking.

"L-Luddy! You surprised me!"

"I didn't know you could be surprised, Feli. " Ludwig laughed. He breathed in deeply. "That smells good. What are you cooking?"

"It's a surprise!" Feliciano said, butting Ludwig away. Feliciano turned and pointed at the table with the spatula he was holding. "You can wait there until I'm done making it." Feliciano turned back to his task.

"I didn't know you were a chef."

"Of course I am. You learn to fend for yourself. And to me, food is the most important part of that. You need to be able to cook a five star meal if you want to live luxuriously. And besides..."

Feliciano brought two plates with an omelet on each, setting one down in front of Ludwig, the other across the table. He poured a couple of glasses of wine, and set the table. Ludwig was amazed at the meal he was looking at. "The best part of cooking is that you get to share the food with others and see their faces when they eat your food." Feliciano sat down. "Go on, try it. Tell me if you like it."

Ludwig cut into the omelet and took a bite. He was shocked at how delicious it was. "What's in it?"

"Some Italian herbs, Italian dressing, German wurst, and that weird cheese that you got from the store the other day. The wine is a traditional dessert wine, although I always love to drink it in the morning when I have eggs to eat. Do you like it?"

"I love it. It's the most delicious thing I've ever had."

Feliciano smiled. Ludwig thought he looked so cute with the food on his cheek and his bed head. "Grazie! I'm glad you like it. And I'm glad I get to share this meal with you."

Ludwig smiled and picked up his glass of wine. "To a delectable meal and, well, to us!"

Feliciano laughed and followed suit. "To us!" They clinked glasses and divulged in the food.

The whole day neither of them left the apartment. Instead they watched TV, played around, talked, and laughed. They couldn't stop touching each other, hugging, kissing, snuggling, sometimes even nibbling. At the end of the day, Feliciano got a call from his brother, saying that he had to go home. They both grabbed what they needed to, and got in the car, Ludwig in the driver's seat. After about 15 minutes of driving, Feliciano was fast asleep.

"We're here." Ludwig declared after parking outside the gate of the house. When he didn't hear a reply, he looked over to see Feliciano sleeping. "Sleeping must be a pretty rare thing for Feli" Ludwig thought. "With everything that goes on in his life, who can blame him? I'll let him rest."

Ludwig went to the other side of the car and unbuckled Feliciano's seat belt, putting the Italian's arms around his neck. "Alright, Ludwig," Ludwig said out loud to no one. "Now what? I can't hold his arms and legs at the same time. Maybe I should change-"

Feliciano, still sleeping, wrapped his arms tighter around the other's neck. "Mm... Ludwig..." Feliciano murmured in his sleep. Ludwig smiled.

"Danke, Feli. Not only do you dream of me, but you just made this a lot easier." Ludwig carried Feliciano on his back through the gate and all the way to the front door. Not letting go of Feliciano, he knocked on the door until someone answered.

"I heard you the first ten times." a very annoyed Lovino answered, not looking up. "What do you want?"

"I have a very sleepy little Italian here." Ludwig answered. Lovino looked up surprised at the two before him. "Can I come in?"

"Hm? Oh! Right this way." Lovino led the two to the living room, where Ludwig deposited Feliciano on the couch. Only then did Feliciano wake up. He stared up at Ludwig and smiled sleepily.

"Ciao, il mio amore. Are we there yet?"*****

Ludwig laughed at the sleepy Feli. "Yes, we just got here. Lovino, Kiku, and Antonio are here."

Feliciano shot up to a sitting position, suddenly alert. "What?! Why didn't you wake me up?!"

"You looked so cute sleeping, I didn't want to ruin it."

Feliciano slumped his shoulders and hung his head. "ugh, thanks for that Ludwig." Feliciano rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Ciao, Lovino, Kiku, and whoever else is here. Sorry for us coming so late."

"It's no problem." Kiku answered. "We knew where you were so we didn't worry. And we've been thinking about something... Would you like to tell it, Lovino?"

Feliciano looked up at Lovino, wondering what it was he wanted to tell him. Lovino for some reason couldn't look into Feliciano's big, caramel colored eyes. "Well... I've been thinking about it, and you know how I'm good at imagining how situations will turn out... I was thinking that Ludwig might be safer... if he was an honorary member of our family. You two are obviously fond of each other, so I figured he could stay here and go to town whenever he pleased. We could all teach him the rules of our family and anything else he needs to know. So... yeah."

Feliciano didn't know how to react. On one hand he was really happy to be able to see Ludwig all the time, but at the same time he was terrified. Feliciano was the leader, so he was the one who had to make the final decision whether to let Ludwig in or not. Meaning if Ludwig got hurt, or worse, killed, it would be all Feliciano's fault.

Ludwig, on the other hand, was ecstatic. He thought it was perfect.

"Well, Feliciano?" Antonio asked. "What do you say?"

Feliciano looked around at all the faces of all the people who had milled around. Everyone was obviously aware of this decision, and completely on board for it. And he saw, looking at everyone, that if Ludwig was in any danger, they would defend and protect him in a heartbeat as if he was any other member of the family.

Feliciano smiled. "I think it's a great idea." Ludwig jumped up and cheered, running over Feliciano and hugging him. Feliciano hugged him back and laughed, but stopped a little short. He could feel that, even though Ludwig was acting excited, he was also a little tense. Feliciano laughed it off though, figuring it was just because Ludwig was happy but nervous about being in the mafia. It was new to him, and Feliciano understood the feeling.

That was two days ago. Now Feliciano woke up from his nap, smiling to himself. Ludwig was so perfect. He had gone back into town to move half the things from his apartment to the house, and to retrieve the rest of his stuff that just finished being shipped from Germany. Feliciano was overjoyed at everything that was happening. Ludwig was so amazing, so perfect. Feliciano's whole family approved of him, too, which rarely happened. And Ludwig made Feliciano feel so... normal. Something he hadn't felt his whole life. And now Arthur, as Feliciano sleepily recalled, was telling Feliciano to go see Ludwig. Just as a surprise visit. Feliciano, after a while of thinking, decided he would go the next morning. It was now ten at night, so Feliciano went back to sleep, dreaming happily of Ludwig.

The dark, sinister room gave off a cold feeling as footsteps circled Ludwig.

"So you'll do it?" the albino German hissed in Ludwig's ear. Gilbert had asked Ludwig that question so many times, that Ludwig had lost count.

Ludwig could feel tears stinging his eyes, and running down his cheeks. His shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Yes," Ludwig whispered, his throat sore from trying not to cry. "I'll do it."

"Kesesesese! I knew you'd come around, Luddy! This is surely going to be fun. Don't you all think so?" Laughter and cheers rang around the Braginskys.

Ludwig felt that he was about to be consumed by the darkness surrounding him. _"Please."_ Ludwig silently pleaded. _"Whatever you do, don't visit me Feliciano! I don't want you to be hurt..."_

Feliciano entered his office, deep in thought. Thinking about whether it was a good idea it not to let Ludwig be part of the mafia. Ludwig watched in shame and dejection as Gilbert and the other Braginskys left the apartment room, gingerly touching the bruise that was forming on his stomach.

Both prayed silently, hoping the other would hear. "Be safe... please, be safe.."

No matter what, just don't get hurt...

**I'm not going back and forth to check what I'm doing, so if I get this in the wrong order then I apologize. I'm just trying to get to the point, cause I rambled a lot last time.**

***Feliciano thinking obscene thoughts: sexual tension rizing.**

****Kiku's collection of yaoi and hentai: a refference to an episode of APH when Italy is looking through Japan's collection of art, then he comes across a book labelled "porn"**

*****don't let Italians drive. Yet again a refference to the show, I think the world series, when Italy drives Japan, and Japan is horrified and firghtened because it was so fast and wreckless.**

******_"Grazie. Grazie mille."_: "Thank you. Thank you so much." in Italian.**

*******"_Ciao, il mio amore._": "Hello, my love." in Italian**

**Lol, I know half of you are probably yelling at your screen right now at Ludwig. Well I'm sorry! But whatever. I hope you realize Ludwig and I can't hear you.**

**See you next time! (I'm so evil :3)**


	14. Dead and Alive

**Hi!**

**Yet again, I'm sorry for being evil. **

**I should really do my homework, but I ended up writing a lot. I get too into this.**

**Writing this listening to Iris by Goo Goo dolls. I started crying because I know how this story ends, and the song is perfect for Ludwig and Feliciano. Ludwig really is the only one in the world who understands Feliciano completely. While Feli tries to hide his true face from the world to keep his reputation as mafia leader, Ludwig is the only one who's see Feliciano's real face. And I have this picture in my head about Italy, how it would be the same thing, just the other way around. Italy is always so happy and bubbly, but Germany is the only one in literally the whole world that has seen how sad and alone and dark Italy is underneath the bubbliness. And he still accepts Italy the way he is. (Spoilers for a new fanfic?! o.O)**

**Anyways, I won't keep you too long. I'll try to keep up with the posting.**

**Enjoy!**

Feliciano said a couple of goodbyes as he headed off. He knew that Kiku was eyeing him, making sure Feliciano didn't break any laws. But Feliciano didn't care. He slammed on the gas, speeding out of the gate and over to Ludwig's place.

Ludwig shuffled a few papers, put some things away.

Feliciano sped through town, making sure not to go too fast. He didn't want another cop to spot him and pull him over.

Ludwig got dressed in a nice suit and tie, trying to look his best.

Feliciano pulled into the parking lot and raced up the stairs, dressed up. He had a suit and hat on, holding a bouquet of what Feliciano learned was Ludwig's favorite flowers.

Ludwig straightened his tie, and made sure his hair was in order.

Feliciano knocked on the door. Ludwig was about to run over to answer it, but something slowed him down. He cautiously walked over to the door, and opened it. There was Feli, a bright smile on his face.

Feliciano looked up at Ludwig's face and his smile faded. "Are you ok Ludwig? You look sick."

Ludwig gulped to try to get rid of a lump that was forming in his throat. "I'm fine. A little surprised is all. I didn't expect you to come over today. Uh, are those flowers for me?"

Feliciano completely forgot about the flowers in his hands, and looked down. But he ignored it, and continued. "Why would you be surprised? I've surprised you with a visit before."

"Yeah, but that time I knew you were going to surprise me."

Feliciano eyed Ludwig, but didn't show his suspicion. Instead, he smiled. "Of course these flowers are for you silly! Remember, a few days ago you told me that these are your favorite flowers."

Ludwig took the bouquet, gingerly feeling the flowers. "Edelweiss and Gentian... How did you get these? They only grow in Germany..."

Feliciano had let himself into the apartment, taking in the familiar surroundings. "I had them special ordered as soon as you told me. I checked in the flower shop today and the flowers were ready. The flowers are young, and still have the roots. Put them in some soil and water them regularly, you should be able to keep them alive for a while in your apartment."

When Ludwig didn't answer, Feliciano continued talking to fill the silence, oblivious to what Ludwig was doing and thinking. "Flowers are so delicate. The first thing I think of when I see flowers is how much they are like love between two people. Take care of them, they will grow to be absolutely beautiful. And make everyone who sees them happy. But if you don't take care of them" Feliciano broke a twig that he found in one of the boxes between his fingers, making Ludwig jump. "then the flowers die and everyone who looks at them wishes they would be thrown out." Feliciano glanced at Ludwig.

"Sorry about that... it was a little thing that I came up with when I was a kid. Sorry if it sort of freaked you out. But our love is totally being pampered, so don't let it freak you out. In fact just ignore everything I just said."

The lump in Ludwig's throat was growing bigger. "It's not a problem. Oh, and d-danke. F-for the flowers." Ludwig managed to finally say.

Feliciano floated around the apartment as Ludwig nervously organized a few things. "I see you have all of your things now." Feliciano stated.

"Yeah" Ludwig replied. Their backs were to each other. "I got all of my things this morning, actually. Sorry for the mess."

Feliciano turned and studied Ludwig with a keen eye. "You call this a mess? It's cleaner than I could ever get anything."

Ludwig could feel Feliciano's eyes boreing into him, probably wondering why Ludwig wasn't facing him. "Really? But I've been to your house. It's so clean."

Feliciano noticed how tense and nervous Ludwig was, and continued to study the tall German. "That's just because Kiku and Roderich clean it. They're sort of the clean freaks. They clean the house at least ten times a day." Feliciano strode over to Ludwig.

"Yeah, I can imagine that." Feliciano reached up and began to message Ludwig's shoulders, who didn't protest.

"I was right" Feliciano sighed. "You really are tense." Feliciano slipped his arms around Ludwig's waist, burying his head into Ludwig's back. "You've been this way since before I came, haven't you? Come on, won't you please tell me what's wrong?"

Ludwig wanted to. He wanted to tell Feliciano everything. But he couldn't. The lump in his throat prevented him from saying a word of it. "I'm in the mafia now... with you and the Vargas family. My bruder... I ran into him the other day." Feliciano looked up, concerned. Ludwig continued. "D-don't worry... he... ignored me, more or less... But it just got me wondering. He's going to still be after both of us. What if you get hurt again?"

Feliciano was surprised that Ludwig was also so worried about it. And he couldn't help but laugh. "You're right. I shouldn't worry." Feliciano squeezed Ludwig tighter. "If Gilbert attacks us, I'll protect us. I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you. I know you're scared. Believe me when I say that family is the scariest thing to go up against. But don't worry, Ludwig. I'm right here. Gilbert won't get to either of us."

This didn't make Ludwig feel any better, but he forced himself to take a few deep breaths and relax. He couldn't have Feliciano getting worried or suspicious.

"You're right." Ludwig said, turning around and hugging Feliciano back. "I shouldn't worry. Danke, Feli."

Feliciano felt Ludwig relax, and was happy. He nuzzled Ludwig's chest. *"Ti amo, Ludwig. Now how about we go have fun?"

"That sounds good." Germany smiled. They left, arm in arm. Ludwig looked nervously over his shoulder as they left the apartment.

The flowers were left unattended on the counter.

Ludwig was in the front seat, driving, Feliciano merrily sitting next to him, humming the tune to some sad sounding Italian song. When Ludwig had asked Feliciano about it earlier, Feliciano had merely replied "It's a song that io e mio fratello made up. Or heard, non riesco a ricordare quale."** Ludwig had no idea what any of that meant, so he didn't ask again.

"So..." Ludwig began after a few minutes of silence. "It's about noon. What do you want to do?"

"Hm... maybe we can go to the galas? Or that great little art museum... Ha-ha, we've done pretty much everything already! But it's not where we go that matters, just as long as we're together. Right?"

"R-right."

"Where do you want to go? Maybe a landmark here that you've always wanted to see? I would be happy to show you around town."

Ludwig thought for a moment. "You know, I would love to see where you used to live. I'm sure it was a beautiful place."

A shadow passed across Feliciano's face, much to Ludwig's surprise. Feliciano put his head down. "I know it may seem odd, but you've been there already."

"I have?"

"Yeah... I was raised in the Braginsky house." Feliciano said.

Ludwig nearly stopped the car. "W-what?"

"The former leader of the Braginsky house took me off the streets when I was less than five years old." Ludwig stared at Feliciano, surprised by what he was hearing. He had always figured that Feliciano grew up normal, then got dragged into the mafia by his brother. But this... "It wasn't Ivan, if that's what you're thinking. At that time Ivan and I were actually friends. There were others, too. Lovino was there. That's actually how we met." Wait... Feliciano and Lovino weren't blood related? But they looked so similar... "Roderich and Kiku were there. So was Mathias and Arthur. We all grew up in the same house. Then I killed the Braginsky leader when I was fifteen years old. We all ran off to make our own house, our own family. Several others came with us. Ivan and Gilbert almost came with us, actually, but they both were loyal to the former Braginsky leader. So Lovino and I created the Vargas family and became our own mafia house under our own rules."

Ludwig didn't know what to say. "I-I'm sorry, Feli. I didn't mean to bring it up."

Feliciano looked up, his usual smile on his face, which surprised Ludwig the most. "Why so sorry? I'm the one who told you. And besides, you know how much I love my family. I have a good life now, and I wouldn't wish it be any other way." Feliciano closed his eyes. "That's not true" he thought to himself. "Just the other day you were wishing to be normal so Ludwig wouldn't get hurt."

"Are you ok, Feli?" Ludwig asked.

Suddenly Feliciano perked up. "I know! Let's go to the ball game today! There's this really important soccer match going down today, and we should really go see it! I think it starts in an hour, which is plenty of time to get there."

Ludwig smiled. "I used to watch soccer matches in my home town all the time. Who's playing?"

"Italy against Great Britain I think. It should be really interesting." Feliciano practically cheered. "So are we gonna go see it?"

"I think I remember where the stadium is. It's one of the first places you showed me. Yeah, let's go!"

"Yay!" Feliciano sprang up and hugged Ludwig, who was barely able to keep hold of the wheel.

"Two tickets please." Ludwig asked the ticket master in front of the stadium.

"Sorry, all sold out." the ticket master replied.

Ludwig sighed and turned to Feliciano. "Maybe another time?"

"What's the name of the guy taking the tickets?"

"Um, Nate. Why?"

Feliciano smiled and walked up to the ticket booth, a devilish grin on his face.

"Ciao Nate. Long time no see."

Nate choked on the soda he was drinking and sat up "Feliciano! What are you doing here?"

Feliciano frowned. "I'm here with a friend. Didn't you see me?"

"Y-yes! W-wait, I mean no, no I didn't!"

"Well which one is it, yes or no? Because you haven't forgotten our deal, have you?"

"N-no! Definitely haven't forgotten the deal, and definitely did not see you! You and your friend can go in. Here are the tickets. S-so sorry for all the trouble." Feliciano took the tickets.

"Grazie Nate! You're a huge help!"

Feliciano skipped back to Ludwig, a big smile on his face.

"What was that all about?" Ludwig asked. "Or do I even want to know?"

Feliciano grinned and handed a ticket to Ludwig. "You don't want to know. But basically he owes me, so he promised that every time I came around, he would give me and anyone I was with free tickets to the game. But not just any tickets. Look at the seats."

Ludwig looked at the ticket he had received and stared at it. "These seats are right behind one of the goals. The best seats you can get."

"Yep!"

"What sort of favor does this guy owe you?"

"Like I said, you don't want to know. But come on, we had better go save our seats. The game starts in thirty minutes, so we have time to get food and everything first. And I should probably call Lovino to let him know where we are, or else I'll never hear the end of it when I get back."

"Alright. I have to find the bathroom. You know where it is?" Feliciano got his phone out and pointed to the left of where they were standing. Ludwig thanked Feliciano and went off to find the bathroom.

Feliciano heard the phone ringing. "I should thank you, Ludwig." Feliciano said to himself. "I needed to talk to Lovino in private."

After a few rings, Lovino picked up his phone. ***"Chi è questo?" Came Lovino's voice from the other end.

"Ciao Lovi! It's me, Feli."

"Fratello? I didn't expect you to call so soon. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Ludwig and I are just at the game."

"The UK soccer match?"

"Yep!"

"Sounds like fun. You should tell me how it goes later. But that's not why you called. So why did you call?"

"Ve~ You know me so well, Lovi. Well I'm calling because I don't know how long I'll be here, but you should just be on guard."

"Hm? Why?"

Feliciano paused, making sure Ludwig wasn't there. "Ludwig's been really nervous all day. Apparently he ran into Gilbert while I was at the house."

"What?" Lovino said alarmed.

"Don't worry, It's probably nothing. They haven't attacked yet, and I don't think they will anytime soon. I'm just a bit worried about the way Ludwig keeps looking around like he's making sure no one is following us. So just, be alert. And don't tell anyone except Kiku about this."

"I don't like this, Feliciano. Are you ok? Have you seen anything?"

"Like I said, I'm sure Ludwig's just being paranoid. I just wanted to let you know so you know what's going down on my end. If I find out that it's more than Ludwig running into Gilbert, I'll let you know. Ok? You know all my signs of danger."

Lovino hesitated, worried about Feliciano. "Are you sure? I can come over, scope the place for you. You don't have to tell Ludwig."

Feliciano chuckled. "I'm fine! Lovino, don't worry. I can handle myself. Just tell Kiku, and be on the look out."

Lovino sighed. "Alright. But you totally owe me for this. Pasta for a week should suffice."

Feliciano laughed. "Grazie! And I'll make sure the pasta tastes extra good."

Lovino laughed a bit, which reassured Feliciano. "You'd better. Have fun at the game with Ludwig. And don't forget to report back to me before you fall asleep tonight. I want to hear every second of what happened at that game."

"Roger that. I'll see you later Lovino. And don't try to burn the house down."

"As long as you don't shoot anyone in the head." They both laughed.

"Arrivederci."

"Arrivederci." Feliciano hung up as Ludwig walked up.

"So how's Lovino? Did he chew you out?"

"No he was surprisingly calm about it. How was the bathroom?"

"They have good smelling soap."

"That's good."

"Yeah." They looked at each other, and burst out laughing, not being able to keep a straight face anymore.

"Let's get some refreshments, then find our seats, ok?" Feliciano smiled.

"Sounds good." Ludwig laughed. Feliciano turned to lead them towards the venders.

_"Please God, don't let anything happen to Feliciano." _Ludwig silently prayed as he followed the Italian through the crowd.

The game was a blast. Ludwig was rooting for the UK team, while Feliciano rooted for his home team. At first it seemed like the UK team was winning, but the Italians pulled through in the end, and won by one point. Feliciano was cheering while Ludwig was disappointed, but both of them agreed it was a great game.

They left the stadium and walked to their car, laughing about the match.

"I can't believe it ran this late!" Ludwig exasperated. "It's nearly sunset!"

Feliciano laughed. "Well they were both really good teams! They had to keep extending the time because once they tied, neither team could get a goal for almost an hour!"

"Matches like that always happen around here?"

"Nope. Most of the time our team wins right away. The other teams can't even get close. Especially not the German team." Feliciano teased. Ludwig's mouth fell open, a smile still on his face. He chased Feliciano through the parking lot, picking him up from behind once Ludwig caught up, and threw Feliciano in the air.

"Ah!" Feliciano screamed. "S-stop! I hate being picked up!" Feliciano laughed. Ludwit threw Feliciano in the air again and caught him, Feliciano screaming the whole time. "L-Ludwig!"

Ludwig put Feliciano down and laughed. Feliciano turned to Ludwig and pouted. "Ludwig's mean. I don't like being picked up." Feliciano whined.

"I'm sorry Feli! I couldn't resist." Ludwig moved towards Feliciano, wrapping his arms around the little Italian. Feliciano looked up at Ludwig, trying his best to stay angry. "Can I make it up to you Feliciano?"

Feliciano smiled and wrapped his arms around Ludwig's neck. "Maybe you can." Ludwig smiled and bent down to kiss the also smiling Italian. They stayed like that for a while, Feliciano never stopping from smiling and laughing.

_"Dear God, please let us stay like this forever. Don't let anyone or anything hurt Feliciano."_ Ludwig prayed.

They broke from their kiss. Feliciano slowly took Ludwig's hands into his own and muttered sweet Italian nothings into them.

_"Protect him"****_

Feliciano kissed Ludwig's hands, saying a few times "Ti amo, Ludwig. Ti amo."

_"I'm sorry Feliciano. I'm so sorry."_

Ludwig could feel the lump in his throat growing again as his throat and eyes burned. "H-hey, it's getting late." Ludwig tried to hide his emotions as best he could, putting on his best smile even though he was about to cry.

_"I want you to pick where we need to go."_ Ludwig thought.

"Maybe we should think about getting dinner then going home."

"Hm, you're right." Feliciano said, looking up. He was still holding Ludwig's hands.

_"I wish you would just hate me so I didn't have to watch you get your heart broken."_

"Where would you like to go for dinner Ludwig?"

"Me? O-oh... h-how about Al Covo?"

Feliciano looked up at Ludwig, delighted. "Really? The food there is so delicious! You'll really take me there?"

_"That's not what I wanted to hear..."_

"Of course, if you want to go."

_"I wanted to hear that you hate that place."_

"Yes!" Feliciano jumped up and hugged Ludwig. "Of course I do!"

_"I wanted you to say that you were too tired. We could have gone home. Feliciano..."_

"Ve~ Look Ludwig! Isn't the sunset so pretty? The clouds are all pink and the sky is yellow and red."

_"I'm sorry"_

"Yeah. It's wunderschöne."

Feliciano hugged Ludwig. He knew something was wrong, but Ludwig obviously didn't want to talk about it, so Feliciano didn't bring it up. Feliciano took Ludwig's hand and laced their fingers together.

"Ti amo, Ludwig."

_"That's not what I wanted to you to say."_

"I-ich liebe dich, Feli."

They drove to the restaurant, Feliciano humming happily the way there. It was dark by the time they got there. They got a table for two, and ordered wine and food. A bouquet of white lilies was on the table, dying.

"That's so sad." Feliciano remarked, touching the wilted flowers. "These could have been so beautiful if someone had cared enough to look after them. But now they're dying."

"Yeah. It's really sad."

Feliciano looked at Ludwig, studying his face. He knew that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what. Obviously it was more than just running into Gilbert. Something else had gone down. Ludwig stared behind Feliciano, a pained expression in his eyes, as if pleading Feliciano for something.

Then it hit him, as if a bullet had pierced his heart and stopped his breathing. The wine glass Feliciano was holding shattered on the floor. Feliciano stared in shock at Ludwig.

"Ludwig, don't tell me you-" He was interrupted by a hand covering his mouth from behind. Feliciano immediately started kicking and struggling, trying to get away. More hands came down and grabbed both of Feliciano's arms. Feliciano struggled more, trying to get away, trying to make sense of what was going on. Gilbert walked around behind Ludwig, who was crying.

"I got you Feliciano. You're going to pay for everything. And it's all thanks to mein kleiner bruder right here.***** He's the one that told us that whenever you visited he would take you to this restaurant. And a little birdie on the inside made sure that you left today."

Feliciano couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only did Ludwig betray him, but someone on the inside? It couldn't be...

The man covering Feliciano's mouth (Feliciano figured it was Kaoru) loosened his grip a bit. Feliciano took the opportunity to bite his hand as hard as possible, Kaoru yelping in pain and pulling away immediately. Feliciano struggled some, but more hands grabbed his arms, staying as far away as possible from his mouth.

"Fuck you, you fucking bastard!" Feliciano yelled, hot tears streaming down his face. "Fuck you all! You can all burn in hell for all I care!" Feliciano yelled at Ludwig more than anyone. Ludwig covered his face with his hands. Feliciano stopped fighting and hung his head, tears falling off his cheeks onto his lap.

"Good." Gilbert laughed. "When I do burn in hell, I'll make sure to say hi to you there and ask how the weather is." Gilbert grinned. "Take him. We have some unfinished business to attend to."

Those holding Feliciano lifted him out of the chair, Feliciano immediately struggling and fighting again. He managed to get one arm free, and grabbed a knife that was in someone's pocket. He threw it at the wall where it stuck, and they managed to take his arms again. When they left the restaurant, Feliciano tried to look back at Ludwig, but his head was forced forward. Feliciano stopped struggling. Someone knocked him unconscious, and the others shoved him in a car.

Ludwig uncovered his face. Everyone in the restaurant had already fled. He was pretty much alone, except a few people who were wandering around confused, and Gilbert, who wouldn't stop laughing.

"Look at our victory, bruder. Isn't it glorious? Rejoice. Now you are a member of the Braginsky family. Those Vargas's don't stand a chance with their leader gone and you on our side. So I must say, danke. For a job well done. We really couldn't have done it without you. Kesesesese!"

Gilbert walked to the door. Ludwig watched as the last petal fell off of one of the wilted lilies before standing up and following his brother through the doors of the restaurant and into one of the cars that were parked outside.

Ludwig's throat and eyes burned.

_"I'm sorry Feliciano. I'm so sorry..."_

They all heard the news right away. Lovino had every news channel and radio station on. The incident was reported about two hours after it happened. Kiku and Mathias went down to the restaurant to confirm it. Feliciano's car was parked in the parking lot, and a knife with a skull carving in the handle was lodged in the wall- a little sign that Feli had made up to signify that he was attacked here. Though the knife wasn't his, the Vargas knifes and daggers had no carvings, but Braginsky daggers did. Kiku and Mathias came back in two cars at around eleven o clock to report the news.

There was no hesitation this time. Everyone knew that they had to save Feliciano. They all got up and began to get ready. Mathias was outside on guard duty, since all his things were always packed.

Lovino was about to head outside, too, when he heard gunshots fire off. He ran through the front door with Kiku and Antonio not far behind. Outside, he found Mathias against the wall, injured. Grinning outside the gate was Alfred, Wang Yao, Tino, Sadık, Bella, Natasha, Gupta Muhammad, and Berwald. Eight Braginskys trespassing on Vargas territory. This was payback for last time, Lovino just knew it.

"Sorry to crash in on you like this." Alfred smirked. "But we're a little busy. If you don't mind, we want to make this quick."

"Fuck" Lovino breathed. Almost everyone was outside by the time the battle began.

Gilbert walked to the cell and opened the door. Feliciano was sitting on the floor in front of the bed, his head bent so low that his hair covered his face. Gilbert smiled.

"We would have killed you right away, but some of our family members are out having fun. So we'll hold off on your execution till the morning. Besides, there's usually a grace period between the prison and the execution, right? And sorry you couldn't be invited to the party, but I'm sure your family will tell you about it in hell. Kesesesese! Have fun, Feliciano." Gilbert shut the door.

Feliciano was falling apart. "Great" He said out loud. "Not only am I stuck here, but they're off killing everyone else that matters to me. I'm the worst leader ever."

"No you're not." a voice said. Feliciano looked up to see Ludwig standing in the doorway. Feliciano glared.

"Get the hell away from me, or I'll kill you."

"Feliciano-"

"I said get out! You sold me out, you fucking bastard! I trusted you! Now look what's happened. I should have never talked to you in the first place."

"Feliciano, look, I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, you bastard. Treachery is the worst thing you can do in the mafia. Betraying your own family. And wasn't I the one who let you in the Vargas family? I should kill you here and now. That's what a leader is supposed to do. But you just took everything away from me in one sweep. I hope you're happy, Ludwig."

"Why would I be happy? I never wanted this!"

"Oh yeah? Well you fooled me. It seems this is exactly what you wanted."

"The deal was Gilbert captured you, and left the rest of the Vargas family alone! That's all I wanted!"

"And you believed him? He's a liar, Ludwig! You should know that better than anyone! How long have you been plotting this with him?"

Ludwig paused. "...He's... he's been asking me to do this since the day I found out that he was here also. But I didn't actually say yes until a few days ago. I'm so sorry Feliciano." Ludwig's voice cracked.

Feliciano hung his head again. "I can't believe this... I guess you can't trust anyone, is that right?"

"No-"

"Just leave, Ludwig. You made your choice."

"Feliciano, just here me out!"

"What don't you understand?!" Feliciano shouted, getting on his feet. "I hate you! You betrayed me! There's nothing you can do or say to fix that, Ludwig! Just get the hell out!"

Ludwig took a deep breath. "I was sort of hoping that this could fix that." He held a key out to Feliciano. "A skeleton key I swiped from Gilbert's office. It should unlock those shackles, the front door, the gate, and the door in between the living room and the room where they're taking you tomorrow."

Feliciano stared at the key in Ludwig's hand, but didn't take it.

Ludwig saw that Feliciano wasn't going to take the key, so he sighed and threw it across the floor. It skidded to a stop about a foot from Feliciano.

"In case you were interested. The best time would be tomorrow morning when they're taking you from the cage to the other room." Ludwig left, closing the door behind him.

Feliciano picked up the key and stared at it in his hand. "What should I do?" he thought. He fell on the bed, holding the key loosely.

Arthur was exhausted, but everyone needed to be taken care of. Lovino was hurt the worst, but he was still out there trying to hold off whoever was still out there. The battle was such a surprise. No one but the Braginskys was ready for it, it seemed. Arthur was fighting next to Lovino for a while, but eventually he was told to take care of anyone that was wounded.

Which was everyone.

At this time, no one asked how he was healing everyone. And Arthur was grateful for that. Lovino, Kiku, Antonio, and Elizabeta were the only ones standing at that moment in time. Wait, scratch that, Lovino and Kiku were the only ones standing. Elizabeta was taken down by Wang Yao, Antonio by that terrifying man in a ridiculous mask. Arthur sighed and went outside to retrieve them, Mathias (who was only mostly healed) helping carry them in. Before going inside, Arthur quickly scanned the situation.

Kiku and Lovino were outside the gate, trying to keep three Braginskys at bay. Some of the Braginskys already left, a few were waiting in the car, injured. Arthur was about to turn inside, when one of the Braginskys shouted something. Arthur turned to see Lovino and Kiku suddenly liberated as the remaining Braginskys ran to their car, wicked grins on their faces. Arthur rushed over when he saw Lovino nearly collapse.

Arthur and Kiku picked up Lovino. "They left" Arthur stated. "Any idea why?"

"Feliciano..." Lovino muttered. Arthur and Kiku understood right away. It was a big deal to kill the leader of a mafia family. They probably got the call saying that Feliciano was about to be executed.

Everyone was inside, and severely injured. Arthur hadn't even given his own wounds a chance to heal before treating others. Lovino tried his best to get up and get to the car, but Arthur forced him down every time.

"You need to rest. Your wounds are too serious to go running around blindly on enemy territory."

"S-shut up. I don't need rest." Lovino's words came out slowly and heavily. It was so much of a struggle for him to breathe, why even try sitting up? "But" Arthur thought to himself with a sad smile on his face, "I used to do the same thing for my little brother."

Anyone who was in good enough health travelled around, wrapping wounds, giving others water, and cleaning out wounds. Arthur did his best to heal wounds with the tricks that his dad had taught him, but the others didn't need to know that. He was getting tired, though. It wore him out. And every time he looked down at his own clothes, he saw the blood stain on his shirt getting bigger and bigger.

Kiku was the only one to notice, and he forced Arthur to sit down.

"Kiku, what are you doing?" Arthur asked.

"You're injured." Kiku replied, grabbing some gauze and disinfectant. "The others are fine. But you also need to be healed."

Arthur didn't complain. He knew that he was injured worse than he was letting on. So he let Kiku take care of his wounds.

Arthur looked outside. "Morning..." he muttered.

"Hai." Kiku replied almost sadly. "I pray that today, morning doesn't mean what I'm sure it does."

Even though Kiku was very confusing, Arthur understood. "Please, Feliciano," Arthur silently prayed "be alright."

Feliciano unknowingly fell asleep. He was roughly woken up the next morning by the loud banging of a door, and several hands lifting him off the bed and putting prison shackles on his feet.

"Guten morgen, Feliciano" Gilbert sneered. "What a lovely day, isn't it?" They shoved the still sleepy Italian down the hall.

_"Please be safe"_ Ludwig silently prayed, loading his pistol.

Everyone arrived. Feliciano was forced to his knees in the middle of the floor. He didn't bother listening to Gilbert ramble on about why Feliciano had to be executed, because all he heard was "blah, blah, blah, I am so awesome." Not. Feliciano looked down at his own hand, not daring to open it. Inside his hand was the key that Ludwig gave him yesterday.

He was torn, but ultimately decided not to use it.

"Finally" Gilbert concluded with a laugh. "We get to see you die. Are you ready, Feliciano?"

_"I hope you know what you're doing."_ Ludwig prayed.

Feliciano held his breath. Gilbert undid the safety.

A gunshot fired off.

***"_Ti amo,..._": "I love you" in Italian.**

****"_It's a song that io e mio fratello made up. Or heard, non riesco a ricordare quale._": "It's a song that me and my brother made up. Or heard, I can't really remember which."**

*****"Chi è questo?": "Who is this?" When I was translating this line (from google translate, that website is really helpful) I saw the "chi" and started laughing when I thought how perfect it was that Lovino was saying it. Cause the first thing I thought was Romano screaming "CHIGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" whenever he's surprised or scared.**

**_****"Protect him":_ For this chapter, all the italicized and centered lines are pretty much just Ludwig's inner thoughts, in case you were confused about that.**

*******"_And it's all thanks to mein kleiner bruder right here._": "And it's all thanks to my little brother right here." Oh, Gilbert. Rubbing it in both Feliciano's and Ludwig's face.**

**Sorry about this chapter.**


	15. Have it your way

**Hi!**

**Pretty short chapter this time, I know. Sorry! But I think you'll like it. It is, at least, a little redeeming.**

**BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I HATE SCHOOL! But I've said that a million times, so you don't need to hear it anymore.**

**Have fun with this chapter! More coming up, but I really can't tell when. I just can't seem to be able to meet any of the days I want to. So I'll post the next one as soon as possible.**

**Enjoy!**

Have you ever tried swimming against the tide? No matter how hard you try, no matter how good a singer you are, nothing happens. You stay in place. Sometimes it even pushes you backwards. Why would someone fight so hard to move, even when they know they won't get anywhere? Maybe we'll never know the reason why. We all just want to fight for something, whether they know the reason or not.

But do you even know what you're fighting for?*

A gunshot fired off. Feliciano opened his eyes and looked up. Gilbert looked down.

Blood trickled from Gilbert's shirt. Gilbert slowly looked up, Feliciano following his eyes.

Standing in the doorway was Ludwig, holding a pistol up with a smirk on his face.

"Hallo, Gilbert. I hope I'm not interrupting something."

"Ludwig, what are you..." Gilbert growled.

"Feliciano, I suggest you run." A dozen guns suddenly went up, half of them pointed at Ludwig, the other half pointed at Feliciano. Ludwig ducked behind the wall as they all shot. Feliciano sat frozen.

The fire stopped and Ludwig laughed. "You forget, bruder, that I am a soldier." Ludwig turned back into the room and shot everyone who was holding a gun, dodging every bullet, and not killing a single one. "I know how to aim." Ludwig smirked.

No one moved. Gilbert began to get up.

"Feliciano, run now!" Ludwig shouted.

Something clicked. The whole morning he had been half asleep, not caring what happened to him. But those words woke him up, like a sudden shock. Feliciano sprang up and ran as more guns started firing off, nearly tripping over the shackles. He held the key firmly in his hand.

Ludwig ducked again behind the wall. Feliciano stopped at the wall, not sure where to go or what to do. They stood back to back, not saying a word.

"Feli..." Ludwig turned around. Feliciano sprinted down the hall.

"What are you doing standing there?" Gilbert shouted, trying to get on his feet. "I'll take care of Ludwig, just make sure Feliciano doesn't get away!" Everyone moved, their guns locked and loaded.

Feliciano was running so fast, he could barely tell where he was going or how he was turning, the shackles around his ankles forcing him to take small steps, tripping him at almost every step.

Gilbert stood in the middle of the floor. Ludwig was still ducked behind the wall, not even facing the room. "So, here we are again, eh bruder?" Gilbert hissed.

Feliciano rounded another corner running up to a door. He slammed into it, finding it locked, then hurriedly took the key and unlocked it, bursting through the door as soon as he was permitted.

"Feliciano was right" Ludwig laughed. "I never should have trusted you. It's exactly like last time."

Feliciano could hear them catching up. He tried to run faster but the shackles tripped him, making him fall to the floor. He unlocked the shackles and got up as fast as he could, the door that he just came from bursting open as the people chasing him caught up weapons immediately firing off and a couple of bullets catching Feliciano in the back as he scrambled away and ran to the other door never stopping even for a second, and eventually rounding another corner.

"Is it?" Gilbert laughed. "It does look very familiar. But as I recall, last time I was the one holding the gun to your head." Ludwig smiled to himself, slowly coming out from behind the wall and facing his brother.

Feliciano ran as fast as he could through the front door, then the front gate, never stopping once. He was breathing hard, feeling the blood quickly flow out of his body through several open wounds, but he ignored all of that and kept running.

"That's where you made your mistake in recruiting me, Gilbert" Ludwig smiled. "The tables have turned, mein bruder, and I am a completely different person from when you last saw me. Now, if you don't terribly mind, I'll be on my way."

"I'll get you, Ludwig," Gilbert snarled. Ludwig merely laughed.

"You didn't have the guts to get me all those years ago, I didn't have the guts to kill you now. No matter how much we may hate each other, both of us have too strong a sense of family to actually kill each other. The fact that both of us joined separate mafia families is a perfect example. So I guess I'll just have to find someone to kill you for me. But until then, auf wiedersehen." Ludwig turned and left, making sure not to run into any of the others on his way out.

Feliciano, through many corners, much tripping and falling, and always picking himself back up and running again, as fast as his body could carry him, finally made it home. He ran through the gate and through the front door which was, thankfully, unlocked. Feliciano ran straight into the couch, collapsing on it. Feliciano could feel sweat and tears pouring down his face and cheeks. He panted hard, but no matter how many deep breaths he took, he just couldn't seem to be able to regain his breath.

Everyone in the house had gone upstairs to rest in their own rooms. Lovino couldn't though. Although he was still very injured, he was too worried about Feliciano to sit still and rest. Arthur was tired and injured too, and currently sitting in his office probably doing something stupid like drinking tea. Everyone by now feared the worst; after all, that was the only possible outcome of this whole charade.

Lovino wandered down stairs and was met by a sobbing, doubled over,... "Feliciano.." Lovino murmured. Feliciano didn't hear, though. Lovino walked over to his brother and kneeled next to him, wrapping his arms around the heaving figure.

Feliciano finally turned to Lovino, burying his face in Lovino's chest. "I... I trusted him..." Feliciano heaved between breaths. "I really trusted him."

"I know" Lovino whispered, rubbing Feliciano's back comfortingly. "I know."

Feliciano kept sobbing into Lovino's arms, trying his best to regain his breath and calm down. Antonio walked up, surprised by what he saw. Lovino noticed him and motioned Antonio to stay silent.

"What happened?" Antonio mouthed to Lovino.

"Ludwig" Lovino mouthed back. Antonio understood.

"What should we do?" Antonio mouthed.

"Just give it time. He'll be fine." Lovino mouthed.

Antonio looked down at Feliciano. He had never seen his leader crumble like this before. No one had ever seen Feliciano show any weakness in any situation. Yet here he was, crying into Lovino. Antonio smiled a bit. Their relationship was so cute.

"I'll get Arthur." Antonio said softly out loud. Lovino merely nodded his head and hugged Feliciano tighter.

Ludwig had made it back to his apartment. He was so happy that Feliciano had made it out safely. But at the same time he was about to cry. His stupid decision to trust Gilbert meant he will never see Feliciano again. Feliciano hated him. And Ludwig knew that. And he hated that that was true.

Ludwig looked at the once beautiful bouquet that still lay unattended on the counter. The flowers were all wilted and dying, the white edelweiss now brown, the petals of the Gentian all fallen off. Ludwig picked up the flowers and threw them in the trash.**

He couldn't look at them without tears coming to his eyes.

***The whole intro. I know it makes little sense, but don't worry, I already have a plan to tie it all together.**

****"_Ludwig picked up the flowers and threw them in the trash._": Refference to one of the previous chapters. How Feliciano was saying that if you don't take care of love, then it's like flowers: no one will want to keep them. I know I made that a little too obvious before, but it was kind of fun to write. It made poor Luddy so upset!**

**Anyways, that's all I have to say today. I'm done with tests for a while, and the big project that has been really holding me back is over with on Friday. So after that I'm going to be pretty free for a while. Yay!**

**See ya next time! I hope you enjoyed!**


	16. In The Dark

**Hi!**

**Ve~ Sorry I haven't uploaded for a while. Not going to rant about it today, but basically, school... Fucking school.**

**But anyways, here you go! It's pretty long because it's technically two chapters put together, so yeah.**

**And quick shout out to all you freaking amazing people that I love so much! You make my day every single time you comment, or follow my story, or whatever. I love you all!**

**So here's an awesome story. And don't worry, it's a short one. One of you (can't remember who) posted a reply to the story. At the time I got it, I was at a concert for Juan Jett and the Blackhearts (if you know who she is, you are awesome like Prussia). I was at the concert with some friends, who were all obsessed with 80's, 70's, and 50's music. And they were talking about Eric Clapton, right when I read this comment: _"Is it bad that when reading about Ludwig shooting Gil, the first thing I thought of was "I shot the sheriff! But I did not shoot the deputy." Now that song's stuck in my head haha."_**

**MADE. MY. FUCKING. DAY. If Joan Jett wasn't enough, I was then laughing hysterically in public because that comment was so amazing.**

**You know who you are.**

**Anyways, enjoy the story! I'm sure you'll cry, then laugh, then cheer, then cry again!**

**But don't worry, the madness is almost over!**

Feliciano had put up with the bombardment of questions. He had answered every one, either directly or indirectly. He was patient when Arthur was healing him, and the rest of the family tried to comfort him saying things like "we're going to kill that bastard Ludwig, and put an end to the Braginskys."

Feliciano had put up with all of this. He didn't show any emotion whatsoever. But after a while he couldn't take it anymore. He left to go upstairs to his room, Lovino, Antonio, and Kiku following close behind. The rest remained downstairs.

Feliciano collapsed on his bed. Lovino walked over and gently sat next to him.

"What do you want us to do?" Lovino asked softly. He had been in Feliciano's room several times before, but Antonio and Kiku hadn't. Antonio was amazed by everything, and Kiku was just amazed at the fact that Feliciano actually kept his room sparkling clean, while he couldn't seem to clean anything else.

"Do whatever you want." Feliciano answered. "Right now I don't care."

"That's not an answer." Lovino stated, moving Feliciano's hair from his face. Feliciano looked up in Lovino's eyes. "What are we going to do about Ludwig? And the others?" Lovino spoke as calmly and gently as he could, smiling at Feliciano.

Feliciano paused, feeling again as if he couldn't breathe. Eventually he answered. "Do what you want. I'll assume my role as leader, and make all the ultimate decisions. We kill the Braginskys whenever we run into them, but none of us are ready to go looking for a fight."

Kiku and Antonio were now interested in what Feliciano was saying, and stopped looking around the room. Antonio spoke up. "So we're just going to do what we did before Ludwig showed up?"

Lovino shot him a killing look, but Feliciano payed no mind to comment. "Basically, yeah." Feliciano answered.

Feliciano buried his face into the soft pillows. They all looked at him with sad eyes. Feliciano was never one to show emotion, unless it was excitement or something else. Never his true emotions, though. None of them knew how to react, or what to do. Lovino slowly got up from the bed and walked over to the other two.

"So what do we do?" Kiku asked.

Lovino looked back at Feliciano, curled on his side. "For now, we leave him alone. But other than that, we just do as we are told. Go back to the way things were."

"Things will never be the way they used to be." Kiku whispered.

Lovino sighed "I know. But for now we just keep our heads down and pretend. For Feliciano's sake." They all left the room.

No one was more excited about this development than Mathias. He pulled Elizabeta and Felix to the side.

"I've been thinking about how to bring Feliciano down." Mathias chuckled.

"Oh yeah? And how?" Elizabeta asked.

"Ludwig officially became a member of the Vargas family, right? And he betrayed our Don Feli. A crime punishable by death."

Felix and Elizabeta started catching on. "And obviously Feliciano is still in love with Ludwig." Felix smiled.

"It'll crush him to kill his love." Mathias snickered. "I was thinking, sometime after that, I could challenge Feliciano to a Duello."

"That could work." Elizabeta thought out loud. "He would be so lost in his own mind, that fighting would crush him. Of course, you forget that he is our fearless leader. He's strong."

"He only became leader because he's a decent fighter and he's the one that made this family. I'm at least ten times stronger than him, so I would make the perfect leader."

"Do what you want." Felix said. "I'll back you up the whole time, but when it comes down to it, I'm not part of this."

"Whatever." Mathias shrugged. "I knew you wouldn't be."

However many times you try, you can't stop fate. That's the only thing Ludwig could think the whole time. There was nothing else to it. Everything that happened was meant to be. It would all sort itself out. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. Fate is inevitable, everything happens for a reason, you can't escape your destiny, and utter crap like that. No matter how many times Ludwig said it, he knew it wasn't helping. It was all his fault. And now the only thing in his life that made it worth living hated him, and it was all his fault.

That's what was going through Ludwig's mind as he walked back down the street for the third time that night.

Not that it mattered.

"Target in sight." Mathias said into the blue tooth on his ear. He grinned at Elizabeta, who smiled back. They looked over the edge of the building, watching as the tall German walked alone on the sidewalk in the growing darkness.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Romano spoke back, who was waiting, arms crossed, at the end of the block around the corner. "Go get him."

Everyone heard the simple command and moved into action. Mathias and Elizabeta ran along the edge of the building, rope in hand, completely silent. The others waiting in the alleyways or otherwise moved closer to the sidewalk. Ludwig was oblivious to the movement around him, and watched the sun as it set, giving off a warm glow, and making all the shadows grow longer.

Silhouetted against the sky, Mathias and Elizabeta jumped off the edge of the building, shrieking in laughter, Ludwig looking up in shock, only to find ropes being brought down on his neck and wrists. They laughed almost manically, quickly tying his wrists behind his back. He was too stunned to move, much less struggle against the constraints.

When his hands were done being tied, Mathias and Elizabeta took a step back to admire their work.

"I think it's time, don't you?" Mathias grinned.

Elizabeta chuckled. "I think so. Boss, target is captured and ready for shipping."

Ludwig looked up to see they had that Blue Tooth thing that he had heard about. From the other end came a crackled voice. "Then why are you just standing there? Let me see our special guest."

From around the corner came none other than Lovino, smirking and laughing down at Ludwig. "Hey Ludwig." Lovino laughed. "Long time no see. I'm sure Feliciano would be so excited to see you." The others came out now, and Ludwig recognized Antonio, Arthur, Mathew, Kiku, and Heracles. The rest that were out there were obscured by darkness. Ludwig looked up at Lovino, who's smirk never faded.

"Load him up." Lovino said. With that command, Ludwig felt himself being lifted off the ground.

Feliciano stayed in his room all day. There was a big stake out coming up, and he wanted to make sure he had all his cards in place. Most of the day, though, he spent worrying about his family and the Braginskys. There was an attack coming. There always was. Feliciano had no idea when though. And it was bothering him so much. He couldn't concentrate on work, so he pretty much just sat around all day. He didn't even know when the others left, much less when they came back. All he knew was when someone knocked on his door, and on the other side was Arthur, who seemed very happy about something.

Feliciano opened the door to see Arthur, who was practically glowing with excitement. "Arthur? What's up?"

"I just need to show you something." Arthur smiled. "Come on, everyone is waiting downstairs."

Feliciano tilted his head in confusion, but shrugged it off and followed Arthur. No matter how many questions he asked, Arthur just stayed silent, chuckling to himself. They came to the double doors of the game room, and Arthur stopped Feliciano.

"Will you tell me what this is about now?" Feliciano asked, now getting annoyed.

"Just go in" Arthur smiled. "Oh," he pulled a gun from his coat pocket, and grinned. "You might need this." Feliciano wearily took the gun, and Arthur opened the doors.

Everyone was inside. All of them, waiting in a circle, Kiku, Lovino, Antonio, Mathias, everyone. All of them surrounding one person.

Ludwig.

Feliciano nearly dropped the gun in his hand when he looked down and saw Ludwig sitting in a chair, bound by rope, and looking back up at Feliciano with terrified eyes.

Lovino laughed. "Surprised? Well, he was a part of the Vargas family, wasn't he? Rule one, two, and three. Never tell any secrets of any other member, including location, complete obedience to the boss, and, my personal favorite, vengeance. And since you're the boss and Ludwig betrayed you, we thought it would be fitting if you were the one to, well, put a bullet through his head." Ludwig's eyes widened at those words. Feliciano was surprised, but something at the back of his mind knew it was coming. He knew all the rules, and knew that Ludwig had broken them, but he didn't want to think about that.

"Well?" Mathias asked impatiently. "Aren't you going to do it?" Feliciano didn't respond.

Lovino looked at him. "Feliciano? Come on, the clock's ticking!"

*"Just do it, those are the rules, remember?"

"There is no reason to hesitate."

"Feli? Are you ok?"

Feliciano stood, staring at Ludwig, who pleaded with his eyes. He felt light headed, and just wanted to shut everyone out. But they all bled through, especially those piercing blue eyes. Feliciano felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned to see Arthur, looking really concerned.

"Are you ok Don?" Arthur asked. Feliciano didn't answer again, while he tried to his thoughts in order.

More people spoke, urging him to kill Ludwig. Feliciano got angrier and angrier at them.

"Just do it!"

"Why wait?"

"Does anyone care about what I have to say?"

"You look more cornered than a cat."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Come on, it'll be fine."

"This is scary..."

"What's going on again?"

"Shut up, all of you" Feliciano whispered, closing his eyes. They urged him on. "Shut up. Just shut up."

They stopped. Lovino had heard Feliciano, and hushed them all. Lovino looked at Feliciano concerned.

"Feliciano? Well? What do you say?" Lovino asked. Feliciano opened his eyes and once again looked at Ludwig. Ludwig took a deep breath and hung his head, expecting the worst. Feliciano took a deep breath too, and looked at the floor.

"Untie him" he whispered. They all stared at him.

"What?" Mathias said, not believing what he was hearing.

"I said, untie him." Feliciano looked up, his voice loud and stern. "He betrayed me, yes. But he also saved my life twice. A life for a life, yes? Untie him, now."

Arthur and Elizabeta wearily untied Ludwig. He slowly stood up and walked over to Feliciano, who stared at the floor and loosely dangled the gun in his hand.

"F-Feli-"

"Shut up." Feliciano interrupted Ludwig. He swung around to face him, a hateful look in his eyes that Ludwig had never seen before. "Leave." Feliciano said.

"What?"

"Leave. Go back to Germany. Get the hell out. The next time I see you, I will kill you. There aren't any second chances. This was your chance, and I let you get off easy. So my advice is leave. Get out of my way. I'm busy, so if I see you ever again, then you won't have the luxury of me mulling it over. I will kill you without a second thought."

"Can I just say-"

"I said, shut. Up. There is nothing you can say. Now get out of my house." Feliciano turned away from Ludwig and walked out of the room. The others remained completely silent, either keeping their eyes down or staring at Ludwig, all of them wondering what he would do. So he did the only thing he could do. He walked out of the house, and didn't look back.

At least, he wish he did. From the second story window he could see Feliciano looking at him from the window. With eyes downcast, Ludwig walked away.

_How could you have said that? Why would you turn Ludwig away like that? You still love him... Don't you? No. He betrayed you. He made that choice. You hate him. You hate him. You hate him. Then why do you still love him so much?_

"Almost midnight" Lovino breathed into his hands to warm them up. They all stood around the building, waiting for their delivery to come.

"So, how exactly are we going to do this?" Roderich asked.

"Patience." Feliciano smiled. "You've set down the spikes, right?"

"Just finished" Mathias answered, wiping his hands from the dirt. "What now?"

"Patience, as I said. This will play out perfectly. When in doubt, just follow the leader. I know exactly what I'm doing."

The clock struck twelve, Lovino announcing it right away. Everyone but Roderich and Feliciano slipped into the shadows. Headlights appeared far down the street, with a black rim and a silver top.

"That's the one, isn't it?" Feliciano asked.

"Yep. Official government vehicle." Roderich answered. Feliciano smiled. The truck came closer, and Feliciano stepped into the street.

The wheels screeched and the truck came to a stop. The streetlight hanging overhead revealed that there were two men driving the car, who stuck their heads out of the windows annoyed. Feliciano was turned to his side, making sure they didn't see the gun hanging in his right hand. The other hand was in his pocket as he tilted his head at the man who was now stepping out of his car.

"Are you a fucking moron?" The man shouted. "I could have run you over! What the hell are you doing stepping in the middle of the street in the middle of the night?!"

"Well, I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think you would stop."

"Get out of the damn street, kid. Kids your age shouldn't be playing around late at night." the man went back into his car. Feliciano didn't move. "Did you hear what I said? Get out of my fucking way!"

"I heard what you said." Feliciano answered calmly. "But how are you going to go anywhere if your tires won't work?"

"What?" The man asked, his whole face red with anger. Feliciano smiled to himself and went on.

"I'm just saying. You won't be able to move if your tires don't work. So why should I move?"

"I assure you, my tires work fine."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"You had better get out of my way, or I'll kill you." the man growled.

"How about a test. If your tires do work, then you can go and run me over. Then I'll be dead, and you won't have to worry about me getting in your way ever again. But if I'm right, and your tires don't work, then I'm staying exactly where I am, and none of us get hurt." By now four more men had climbed out of the back of the car, wondering what was going on.

"Alright." the man growled, a wicked grin on his face. "Let's test your theory." He started the car again and revved the engine, putting it into drive but keeping his foot on the brake. Feliciano didn't move a muscle. The driver stomped on the gas, and Feliciano heard some gasps escaping from the shadows where his friends were standing.

Nothing happened. He looked confused, and stepped on the gas again. This time the car lurched about a foot forward, screeching on the popped tires. Feliciano smiled.

"I win." He said.

The man got out of his car and began to march towards Feliciano, but Feliciano simply swung around, pointing his gun at the man's forehead, who stepped back in surprise.

"Not much of a kid anymore, eh?" Feliciano smirked. The other leapt from the shadows, capturing the other men who were standing outside and in the vehicle. Kiku held his sword at the neck of one in the driver's seat. Mathias, Im Yong, Vash, and Arthur took the ones that came out of the back, pointing guns at each of their heads.

The driver growled. "Mafia..."

Feliciano smiled. "Honestly, you should have known. See what I told you guys? When in doubt, follow the boss." Feliciano pulled the trigger and the driver fell. The others laughed and followed suit. Kiku chopped the head off of the passenger and the other also pulled the triggers and the other passengers fell. Lovino walked up to Feliciano, who was pocketing his gun.

"Nice work, Don Feli."

Feliciano, for once enjoying being called Don, smiled. "It was easy. While they were stopping from running me over, they failed to realize that their tires were popping. Roderich, you got the back?"

"It's a simple lock" Roderich answered from behind the van. "I'll be able to crack it soon."

"Hey, Feli, what should we do with the bodies?" Mathias asked.

"I don't care, do what you want. Stash them in the alley, burn them, whatever. Just make sure no one finds them."

Mathias, with a wicked grin, directed the others to the alley, all of them carrying bodies off. Feliciano talked to some of the people, laughing about how stupid those guys in the truck were.

"So, what were they doing again?" Antonio asked.

"They were delivering some money for the Medici family to the bank. Great load. I figured it would be more secure than this, but I guess not."

"The Medici's must hate us." Lovino laughed. "This must be the third time we've targeted them."

"Ah, they're so rich, they won't even miss the money."

"I wonder if they hate us more than the Albizzi family."

Feliciano laughed. "The Medici's can't hate anyone more than the Albizzi family."**

"Hey! You might want to come see this, Feliciano." Roderich shouted from the back of the truck.

"I'll be right back guys." Feliciano said. Roderich was holding a flashlight into the truck, revealing the goods they acquired. Feliciano's mouth nearly dropped, but he composed himself and turned it into a smirk.

Ludwig couldn't believe he left his papers and cell phone at work. It's already been a long day, so Ludwig supposed that's why it took him so long to figure out that he left those things in the office. On the walk there was an unusually little amount of cars whizzing by the streets, even at night. In fact, the only car he saw on the walk was a black van, with a silver top and rims. It kind of looked like one of those government vehicles, but Ludwig didn't pay any attention to it.

After some time after he saw the van, he heard some gunshots. First one, then a pause, then four more. Ludwig ran over, passing a familiar car. He slowed down. He knew that car. Ludwig looked ahead of him and saw something that horrified him.

Feliciano, Lovino, Antonio, Kiku, and all the others were standing around the same black van he saw earlier, now littered with bodies. Ludwig was terrified. He didn't know what to do. So, from the shadows, he watched them laugh out the recent attack. He watched as Roderich worked fervently to unlock the back of the truck. He watched Feliciano laughing with his friends, things between them already going back to normal. Ludwig smiled. It was nice to see him smile for once.

"Pretty impressive, don't you think?" Roderich smiled.

"This is amazing. Guys! Come see this!" Feliciano shouted. Lovino was the first to come over, followed closely by Antonio and some of the others.

Everyone's jaws dropped, and Feliciano and Roderich laughed.

"I didn't expect this..." Antonio gasped.

"Yeah..." Lovino stared. "What was supposed to be in these trucks Feliciano?"

"I honestly thought it was just a cash delivery... but... wow."

Roderich had climbed into the truck and was now shifting through the loot. Inside was money alright. Along with expensive statues, gold blocks, priceless art, and more crazy expensive clothes. All of them looked at it with awe.

"Feliciano, come in." Roderich said. Feliciano climbed in and looked around, then walked up to Roderich. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Look here." Roderich pointed at three boxes next to each other. All of them were a thick black, and padlocked. No sign of a key anywhere. "What should we do? Try to open them or leave them alone?"

Feliciano thought for a moment, but then a thought dawned on him. "Mathias! Come in here!"

After a few minutes, Mathias came in. "What's up?"

"Done dumping the bodies?"

"Yep. So what do you need?"

"These boxes. Heavy locks. I need you to open them."

Mathias grinned. "Of course." With a loud scream, a rain of bullets, and a few strong kicks, he managed to get one of the boxes open. Feliciano turned triumphantly to Roderich, who was surprised and terrified by Mathias's sudden rampage.

"See?" Feliciano smirked. "I got them open. What's inside, Mathias?"

Mathias searched through the box. "What in the...?"

"What is it?"

"This is an AK47. And others. The best, newest, and most efficient guns on the market right now. Along with ammo." Feliciano and Roderich stared in awe at what was inside the box.

"This is amazing..."

"What's in the other boxes?" Roderich regretted saying that as soon as the words came out of his mouth. He bolted out of the truck as soon as Roderich grabbed his gun and began firing it off again. Feliciano laughed at Roderich and watched the show.

After Mathias was done, he and Feliciano opened the boxes. One was filled with ammo for all the guns in the other box (which Mathias especially liked), and the other had things like cigars, expensive wine, beer, and wine glasses. Feliciano especially liked the third box.

"So, are we bringing all this home?" Mathias asked.

"Of course we are. You got the spare tires?"

"Yep. What are we going to do with all that crappy art? Sell it?"

"Yeah." Feliciano was a little offended. He thought the art was amazing. He wanted to keep it all to himself, but even if he could find the room, someone would find out eventually and tell him to sell it all. But maybe he could keep one or two of the really amazing ones...

"Feliciano? Are you ok?" Feliciano snapped out of it, and looked at Mathias.

"What? oh. Yeah, I'm fine."

"Dude, you seriously need to stop zoning like that. It's concerning."

"Ugh, whatever. Just get on with it. What were you saying?"

"I was asking you what we were going to do."

"There is no way we're going to haul all this into the cars that we took. We replace the tires, grab the keys, and drive it to our house. Then someone can drive the car back to the city and dump it somewhere."

"Sounds good to me. By the way, where did you park the car?"

"..."

"You're kidding, right?"

Feliciano face palmed, and sighed. "I'll find it.." Feliciano climbed out of the truck, to be met by a still freaked out Roderich, an impatient Lovino, and a curious Antonio.

"Never let Mathias do that again."

"What's in the truck?"

"Where you going Feli?"

Feliciano sighed, looking out the corner of his eye at a figure ducking into an alley. "If there is any kind of heavy lock, then Mathias is the only one that can open it, but I'll make sure you're not in the room. The truck is full of supplies that will last us a life time, and will leave us super rich. And I lost the car, so I need to go find it."

Lovino face palmed. Antonio laughed. Feliciano growled and took the keys out of his pocket, setting off to find the car.

Half way down the street, pretty far from the others, he stopped, leaning against the wall. Feliciano took a few deep breaths before speaking.

"I know you're there, so quite holding your breath and talk to me already."

Ludwig stopped himself from gasping, and instead let out a deep breath. "F-Feliciano. I... I didn't expect to see you."

"What the hell were you thinking coming here? What are you doing here anyway?"

"I left some stuff at work."

"Didn't I tell you to go back to Germany?"

"I'm never going back there. It's not as beautiful as Italy is."

Feliciano chuckled. "Alright, I'll give you that. But didn't I warn you to stay out of my way?"

"I thought you were supposed to kill me if you ever saw me again."

"Well, technically I'm not seeing you. I'm only talking to you."

Now it was Ludwig's turn to chuckle. "I suppose your right. Can I ask what you're doing?"

"Oh, we just brought home the gold. Literally. A whole truck load of goods. I love it. And I think everyone else does, too."

"Well, that's good. I'm glad you're having fun."

"...yeah."

"..."

"So... h-how are you doing? I know it hasn't been that long a time... but, you know..."

"Ah, y-yeah. I'm, fine. My job is ok. I've been to that museum, then I went to that game last week..."

"Ah, really?! That was an amazing game! Who were you rooting for?"

"..."

Feliciano tried not to laugh. "Don't tell me. Oh god, Ludwig, did you really choose the loosing team again?"

"It's not my fault! I thought America would be better at football than that."

***"Ha-ha! But you forget, America is also the one that changed football to soccer, and called that ridiculous game of theirs football."

"Tsk, I guess your right."

They sat in silence for a while. But it wasn't uncomfortable. Both of them smiled, not seeing the other smile, simply enjoying each other's company.

"Ah, so what are you doing here?" Ludwig asked after a while. "It looks like all the action is down there."

"Oh, the action is over with. We're just loading up the cars and heading home now."

"So why are you over here?"

"I lost the car."

Ludwig snorted. "Seriously?"

"It's not like I meant to! Just with all the excitement, I forgot..."

"Ha, that's just like you."

"Shut up!"

They both laughed. But after a while, the laughter died down. And Feliciano remembered something. Ludwig was a traitor. He hated him. Or at least, he kept telling himself that.

"Hey! Feliciano!" a voice shouted. Feliciano turned in surprise to see Mathias waving at him. "Haven't you found the car yet?"

"Ah! Y-yeah! Sorry, I'll be right there!"

"Do you really have to go Feliciano?" Ludwig asked from around the corner. Feliciano took a deep breath.

"You know the answer to that. It's been fun talking to you again. But you still have to stay out of my way. I didn't do anything today because I'm in a good mood today. But the others aren't that forgiving." Feliciano got up from the wall and stood there, not knowing whether to say something, or leave. Feliciano took a deep breath. "Good bye Ludwig." Before Ludwig could answer, Feliciano walked away to get the car.

Ludwig took a deep breath and slid down the wall, trying not to cry.

_***"Just do it, those are the rules, remember?"**_

_**"There is no reason to hesitate."**_

_**"Feli? Are you ok?"**_

_**"Just do it!"**_

_**"Why wait?"**_

_**"Does anyone care about what I have to say?"**_

_**"You look more cornered than a cat."**_

_**"What does that have to do with anything?"**_

_**"Come on, it'll be fine."**_

_**"This is scary..."**_

_**"What's going on again?"**_

**Alright, I have a game for all of you. Just for fun. Can you guess who is saying what? I tried to match all their personalities as closely as possible. So yes, I know who is who. Whoever gets closest wins! I don't know what they win, but they win something!**

****"_The Medici's can't hate anyone more than the Albizzi family."_: Medici and Albizzi. A little bit of history for all you people. The Medici family was the richest family during the time of the renaissance. Albizzi family was the family opposing them, always wanting to take their power away. I thought it would be fun to add in since it's all in Italy. And I'm also trying to incorporate as much history as possible into the story, so it's not just modern but also historic, and... fun. For instance, the black van transporting their money, was sort of a refference to the carriages they had back then. Black carriages (sometimes with silver tops) and powerful horses to signify that they belonged to someone important. The Medici's are actually a really important family in history, and housed tons of great, great artists of the time. If you're interested in them, then look up more (which I recommend, because it's really cool).**

**Woah, went on a whole fucking rant right there. Sorry, history buff.**

**_***"Ha-ha! But you forget, America is also the one that changed football to soccer, and called that ridiculous game of theirs football."_: I realize, in a previous chapter, I accidentidly called football "soccer". Which is only an American thing (America, what the hell are you doing?). So, I figured I would correct that, then add some humor.**

**Anyways, I'm done now! Sorry for ranting. I know this is a long one. So, I hoped you enjoyed, have a good day, and I'll upload more whenever the hell I can!**

**Stupid school...**

**Bye!**


	17. On a Not So Average Day

**Hi!**

**Alright, I haven't updated for a while, but here you go. I got a lot to say.**

**So, as for the last chapter: some time has passed. I would say about a week. And to the winner of the little game I put for fun last time, here you go!:**

**My answers:**

**"Just do it, those are the rules, remember?" -Elizabeta**

**"There is no reason to hesitate." -Kiku**

**"Feli? Are you ok?" -Antonio**

**"Just do it!" -Vash**

**"Why wait?" -Roderich**

**"Does anyone care about what I have to say?" -Mathew**

**"You look more cornered than a cat." - Heracles**

**"What does that have to do with anything?" -Felix**

**"Come on, it'll be fine." -Im Yong Soo**

**"This is scary..." -Toris**

**"What's going on again?" -Lilli**

**Winner's answers:**

** "Just do it, those are the rules, remember?" Arthur  
"There is no reason to hesitate." Kiku  
"Feli? Are you ok?" hmmm... either Roderich or Lovino  
"Just do it!" Vash  
"Why wait?" Elizabeta  
"Does anyone care about what I have to say?" Matthew  
"You look more cornered than a cat." Hercules  
"What does that have to do with anything?" Felix  
"Come on, it'll be fine." Mathias  
"This is scary..." Lilli  
"What's going on again?" Antonio**

**You were the closest so you win! Good job invisiblemanda!**

**I was looking through my mail recently (email). You know, deleting emails, looking at all the awesomness, stuff like that. And I came across the best thing ever.**

**14 reviews. 11 followers. 11 story favorites. You guys make my day. In fact, you make my whole year. And I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but it's more than I ever expected. So thank you guys. All of you.**

**And I also saw another thing which was pretty cool. An email saying "New story from Emily Woodstone. Title: In Italia. Date:October 17". It awes me to see how long it's already been. So thanks for staying with me guys. You rock. I hope you all have had as awesome a year as I've had.**

**This chapter is a pretty interesting one, so I hope you like. Also, since it's almost Christmas time, I figured I would post a one shot Christmas special on the Vargas family. It's set a year before Ludwig came around. It's called "A Very Vargas Chrismtas" (actually I JUST came up with that name. Pretty cool right?). So if you're interested, look it up! I'll post it around Christmas time.**

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter!**

How many times would they have to do this? Someone from the other side gets captured, and right as they're about to kill them, somehow they escape. Then all of the energy that was supposed to be spent on partying, was instead spent on trying to get back those that escaped.

Gilbert almost threw in the towel. He couldn't stand Feliciano anymore, but no one else seemed to understand his position. In fact, it seemed some of them were still fond of Feliciano, and hesitant to kill him. So, of course, Gilbert was left to remind all of them that they were enemies.

And it left Gilbert only one choice. He had to make a deal with _them._

He knew what the cost of that was. And they didn't have enough money. Yet. But Gilbert sure as hell planned to get that money, one way or another.

Gilbert wouldn't give up so easily. But the first thing to do would be to let the others know his plan. Well, at least part of it.

Mathias was sitting alone in the drawing room with Elizabeta and Felix. All of them were talking about ways to go about their plans.

Sharpening their knives, they went about their normal day.

What do you do when there is nothing left to do? You have all the spoils in the world. You have nowhere to go. You've done everything imaginable. A great philosopher once said, "man is most troublesome when he is most at ease." Those words couldn't be more true. When you're at ease, when you have nothing to physically do, the only thing left is to think. And when someone is alone, they think the worst things. They think things that should never be thought. Then they act on it. And what they don't know, is it can change their lives forever. It can ruin their lives forever.

Especially when you're in the mafia. People think. When they aren't supposed to. And they think the most dastardly things. Rebelling against the leader. Thinking of what life would be like outside of the mafia. Making pacts with the wrong people.

And Feliciano had absolutely nothing to do. He was sitting in his room, accompanied by Kiku, making small talk. The whole time unconsciously fingering an iron cross around his neck. Kiku, who had stopped talking for some reason, stared at Feliciano. Feliciano didn't even notice the silence, he was so lost in thought.

"Are you ok?" Kiku asked.

Feliciano didn't respond. Kiku couldn't tell what he was thinking about.

"Feliciano. Are you ok?" Kiku asked again.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine."

Kiku looked at the cross around Feliciano's neck. "...you got that from Ludwig, didn't you?"

Feliciano snapped to reality and instantly dropped the cross, putting his hands in his lap. Kiku sighed when he realized Feliciano wouldn't answer.

"You know, you can go see him if you want."

"You know I can't."

"Who cares if you go? You're the leader. You proved how much you rightfully deserve that title a week ago. And you've proved it many more times before that. Who cares what you do? As long as you're still our leader, no one will care. You deserve to have a life, too."

Feliciano thought about this for a while. "But... but he betrayed me. That's unacceptable no matter who you are. I'm so mad at him."

"But you don't hate him, do you?"

"..."

"I didn't think so. Anger always passes. Love never does."

"... but I told him to leave. To get out of my way. What do you think he'll do when he sees me again?"

"I've known Ludwig for a shorter amount of time than you did, but I also spent some time getting to know him. You know I am an excellent judge of character, not to brag, but from what I can tell Ludwig is a great guy. A perfect match for you. And he truly cares about you too. I have a feeling he's simply sitting by himself, waiting for you to come back so he can properly apologize."

Feliciano smiled a little at the thought of that.

"So? What are you going to do?"

"...Ve~ I'm going to go see Ludwig! In fact, I'll go right now! Grazie Kiku!" Feliciano leapt up and gathered Kiku up in a bone-crushing hug, leaving Kiku just a little terrified.

"Uh... it's... no problem..." Feliciano bounded out of the room, grabbing his car keys and gun and running out of the house.

"Hm..." Kiku sighed. "I should have at least driven him. He's going to get into a car wreck."

Gilbert was getting ready to tell everyone his plans (part of them), when Francis strolled into the room, a rose sticking out of his coat pocket. Gilbert sighed. Francis was such a prick. He didn't even fight. He just screamed and ran away every time a fight came up. And then those flashy clothes of his always got them caught. At least Francis equally hated Gilbert. So the only time they talked was when it was necessary.

"What do you want?" Gilbert harshly asked.

Francis rolled his eyes. "I only came here to tell you that _they_ called back."

Gilbert lit up. "Oh? And what did they say?"

"They agreed to your terms. As long as you can get the money to them by next month."

Gilbert grinned to himself. This was perfect. They were much more accepting to the terms than Gilbert had thought. He figured more negotiating would take place.

Francis looked at Gilbert and chuckled. "That's the look you used to have whenever one of us killed someone. You were so proud of us." Gilbert stopped smiling and stared at Francis, the two of them standing a while in silence. Gilbert chuckled.

"Back when the three of us were part of the Bad Touch Trio. I remember."

"Those were good times, mon ami. We would do nothing unless it was together."

"But that was also when everyone was in this family. Then Feliciano left..."

Francis looked at Gilbert with pitied eyes. "I know you hate him now, Gilbert. And I know why. But you tend to forget how much you used to love that bright kid. And you know why he left. I honestly think you should have left too." Francis walked to the door and opened it, but stopped. "Besides, you hated Ivan enough to kill him. Why not just leave?" Francis stepped out the door and it swung shut behind him. Gilbert felt his eyes and throat burning.

"The Bad Touch Trio" Gilbert chuckled to himself, on the verge of tears. "I wonder where that went." Gilbert slumped down in the chair and covered his face in his hands.

In between the calm and the chaos, there lives a certain unrest. Where you don't know what will happen next. You anticipate the next move, but are you ever sure that it will happen that way? Gilbert expected to get the money, and seal the deal. Mathias expected to overthrow Feliciano and take over as leader. Feliciano expected Ludwig to honestly slam the door in his face.

But will it ever happen the way you expect?

Feliciano still fiddled with his iron cross as he walked down the hall. He was so nervous. He thought that Ludwig would hate him. He wished he had never met Ludwig in the first place. Then he wouldn't be in this position. Feliciano stammered down the hall, going in between wanting to run to Ludwig's door, and wanting to turn back, forget all about Ludwig and walk away forever.

Soon enough, he found himself at Ludwig's door.

Feliciano was surprised to find the door slightly gaped. He knocked on the door. No reply.

"Hello? Ludwig, are you there?"

No reply.

Feliciano started to panic. He slowly walked in, reaching for his gun.

"Is anyone even in here?" Feliciano asked. He wasn't even completely inside when a pipe swung at his head, which he barely blocked.

"Feliciano?!" a surprised voice asked.

Feliciano, still holding the pipe away from his face, looked around the door, equally surprised. "Ludwig?! What are you doing!"

"The Braginsky's kept coming in, so I had to defend myself. I guess they didn't like me letting you go." Feliciano had never thought before of the consequence that Ludwig had to go through for letting him go. "Anyways, what are you doing here Feli?"

"I... I thought I would..." the words escaped Feliciano as he was reminded of everything that happened.

Ludwig noticed that Feliciano still had some hurt in his tone. Ludwig sighed, his tense body going slack. "Feliciano... You know I'm sorry. I never meant to-" Feliciano looked away, remembering how much he hated Ludwig. "It's just... Gilbert is my family. You more than anyone should know how hard it is to go against your family. I'm truly sorry."

Feliciano looked at Ludwig. He chuckled. "When the others brought you for me to kill you, I actually considered it for a while. But... I let you go."

Ludwig smiled, finally lowering the pipe he was holding. "So I guess we're not that different after all."

Feliciano looked at Ludwig. He knew he could never hate Ludwig. Not really. He realized, with a little jolt, he wasn't even mad at Ludwig anymore. Feliciano jumped on Ludwig, wrapping his arms around the German's neck, his feet barely brushing the floor, the door swinging from Feliciano running into it.

Ludwig was surprised by the hug at first, but then he tightly wrapped his arms around the Italian's waist, lifting him off the ground a little more. Ludwig breathed in his scent. Sweet smelling wine and cigar smoke. Ludwig laughed a bit at that. Feliciano looked up, obviously confused as to why he was laughing. Ludwig took the opportunity to lean in and kiss Feliciano.

Alfred had grilled Francis for at least half an hour, trying to find out what that call was all about. Finally, when Alfred threatened Francis with his gun, Francis gave up the information. And Alfred couldn't believe his ears.

His first instinct was to call _him_ and warn him. But then Alfred remembered they were in different families. Enemies now. Alfred hated that. But _he_ betrayed Alfred. It wasn't fair, but... he would just have to suck it up like a good hero would. Alfred turned over a picture in his pocket and looked at it. It had been such a long time since then...

Arthur studied the overturned picture frame sitting on his desk. He knew exactly what the picture looked like, so he overcame the urge to sit, staring at that picture for hours. He had better things to do than reminisce about times that would never come back. Besides _he_ probably forgot all about that day.

Antonio went through his closet, picking out what he wanted to wear for the upcoming party. He came across an old pirate outfit of his and smiled. Back in the days when he pillaged the four corners with his two best friends. They were already in the mafia, but lived off their one rule: whatever I want to do, I'll do. No one can get in my way.

But now those days were gone. The Bad Touch Trio was no more. Antonio still occasionally wished that he hadn't left. Or at least, that they left with him.

Antonio shook his head of the thought and continued looking through his closet.

Ludwig woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Literally. His feet were where his head should be, and his head was where his feet usually go. He looked around, looking for Feliciano.

After realizing Feli wasn't there, Ludwig got up out of bed. From the kitchen was coming the most delicious smell. Ludwig smiled. He had missed that smell.

He began walking to the kitchen. He couldn't believe that it had already been four months since he met Feliciano. Almost two weeks since he had even seen him. And now there was Feliciano, happily humming to some Italian song as he cooked food. Ludwig quietly walked up to Feliciano, nipping his neck, making Feliciano jump.

"Ah, L-Ludwig! Ve~ you scared me!"

Ludwig laughed. "Sorry. Are you ok?"

"Ve~ I'm fine." Feliciano carefully put the pan he was holding back down and turned around to hug Ludwig. "Did you sleep well Ludwig?"

"Ja. You?"

Feliciano chuckled. "With what little sleep I got, yeah." Ludwig laughed again. "Would you like some food?"

"That sounds great. I'll set the table, ok?"

"Ve! Ok!" Feliciano turned back to the food, but didn't begin cooking again yet. Ludwig stayed with his arms wrapped Feliciano.

"Hey, Ludwig?"

"Ja?"

"Te amo."

"Ich liebe dich." Ludwig kissed Feliciano on the cheek and began setting the table. Feliciano resumed his cooking and humming.

Gilbert had just finished telling everyone the plan. They had taken it surprisingly well, although there was some doubt that _they_ could actually be trusted. Well, more than some. Everyone, even Gilbert, had doubts as to if they could be trusted or not.

They were called the Savages after all. And they were known for savagely murdering not only their enemies, but their allies if they didn't pay the right price. As soon as Gilbert called them the first time, his fate was sealed. If Gilbert couldn't get the money, then the Savages would come and kill him along with the whole family in no time.

It was risky, but Gilbert would do anything to end Feliciano and the whole Vargas family once and for all.

**Phew, that was a long chapter!**

**I have no notes today. Everything I can say would pretty much give away what's going to happen next. So I'm done talking.**

**For now.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll post the next one as soon as I can!**


	18. Not Doing Much These Days

**Hi!**

**Alright, so yet again some time has passed since I last uploaded, so some time has passed in the story.**

**Hm... I have nothing to say. Wow. Something must be wrong, cause I always ramble on these things.**

**Umm... so I'm still working on the christmas special one shot, so keep looking for that. Good chapter, so I hope you enjoy. And holy crap, I thought this story was finally wrapping up, but I realized that there are still so many things that I haven't done yet. And sorry for the lack of pogression lately, I'm sure there are many things you would all like to know. Don't worry, I'll cover them soon.**

**Alright, I'm done.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

Feliciano had no idea how he had gotten himself into this situation. He was surrounded, in the middle of the night, by at least seven other people. And, while he was using nothing but his bare fists, they were wielding iron pipes. Feliciano growled. Who did they think they were, Ivan Braginsky?*

One, two, three hits. Feliciano couldn't hold them off forever, but usually he could at least have killed them by now. But now, he was getting tired. And they were starting to really get in some good hits. His lip was split open, he had a black eye, a swollen lump on his head, and several bruises, gashes, and lumps all over his body.

Feliciano put his hand out to support himself against the wall. He was breathing hard. Four of them walked up, snickering and laughing, three of them waiting in the back to take their turn. Feliciano could barely see their outline with the black moon shining down, illuminating the pipes in their hands. Feliciano got hit one more time, while blocking two more.

He grabbed the pipe from one of them, swinging around and jabbing another in the stomach, then swinging back around to knock another off their feet. Feliciano kicked the one in front of him back who stumbled into one of the them who was waiting in the back to beat up Feliciano. More like waiting to get beat up by him. What Feliciano wasn't expecting was another to grab a pole and whack him in the back of his head. Feliciano fell hard to the ground, his ears ringing and his vision going red and spotted.

He couldn't see anything. Feliciano put his hands in front of him to get his face off the cold hard asphalt. His hands met something, and Feliciano stopped breathing.

He wanted to catch his breath. He wanted to run away. He wanted to cry for help. But instead he held his breath and listened, being completely and totally silent.

The ones surrounding him were quiet, but not completely. Feliciano listened and located where each one of them was standing and walking. Feliciano swung around.

One, two, three, four five, six, seven.

Seven shots. Seven bodies falling to the ground. Feliciano got on his knees and located the nearest body, still not being able to see anything, and felt for the wound. And there, right in the middle of the victim's forehead, was a bullet hole leaking blood. Feliciano smiled to himself. Pinpoint accuracy was an understatement. Feliciano can shoot someone in the middle of the head while disoriented and practically blind.

Feliciano's whole body hurt. Usually, in a fight, he could handle himself and end it before he even got a scratch. But today... no, for a long time now. He was just slipping. Feliciano leaned against the wall, still sitting down. "Why?" he thought. "Why is this happening?"

Lovino had been searching for Feliciano nonstop for about an hour. All of a sudden he disappeared from the house. Lovino got Antonio and began to search. And after travelling down the dark streets, he finally heard gunshots. Seven, actually. Lovino ran to find the source.

"Feliciano! Feliciano is that you? Where the hell are you Feliciano?" Lovino ran to the alley that he was dreading to go in, and inside, barely visible, was a man sitting on the ground, surrounded by several bodies, although Lovino wasn't sure exactly how many. Lovino knew it was Feliciano by the curl that was sticking out of his hair.

"Feliciano? Are you hurt?" Lovino approached him slowly.

Feliciano's ears were still ringing. He couldn't stop it. It was so loud. He didn't hear Lovino's shouts, or him asking to see if he was ok. All Feliciano heard were the footsteps. Swinging around to the source, Feliciano held out his gun and pointed it straight at Lovino.

"Who's there?" Feliciano said, putting as much demand in his voice as he could muster, trying to sound forceful and threatening.

Lovino was surprised. Feliciano usually knew right away who he was facing. He must have been hurt badly. Lovino knelt on the ground in front of Feliciano. "It's me Feli" he said in a calm, quiet voice. "Lovino. Are you ok?"

Feliciano, at the sound of his brother's voice, relaxed. He put the gun down. Lovino could see him still struggling for breath. He was blinking hard, probably seeing spots. Lovino sighed. "Lovino?" Feliciano asked.

"Yeah. Are you hurt? Come on, answer me Feliciano."

Instead on answering, Feliciano dropped the gun and fell into Lovino's arms. He clung to Lovino's neck, trying not to fall and bring Lovino on top of him.

Lovino could now get a better look at Feliciano's wounds. There were bruises everywhere, but thankfully little blood. Lovino spotted a lump growing on Feliciano's temple, and crept up to touch it.

Feliciano gasped and fell into Lovino's lap. Lovino breathed out heavily. Feliciano must've been struggling for his life. Lovino put his arms under Feliciano's arms and legs, lifting them both off the ground. Feliciano gasped, surprised at the sudden lift. He clung, once again, to Lovino's neck.

"L-Lovino, what are you doing?"

"You're too injured to be walking around on your own." Lovino walked out of the alley and onto the street, going towards where he last saw Antonio. "You can rest. I got you."

Feliciano nodded his head and closed his eyes, hugging his brother tighter.

"Grazie fratello." Lovino smiled.

Antonio was worried that something bad happened to Lovino, on top of Feliciano disappearing. While Lovino went to check the streets, Antonio went to Ludwig's house. Ludwig hadn't seen Feliciano, and offered to help find him. Antonio said that they were fine, and he would call Ludwig whenever they found Feli, or if they couldn't find him.

But it has already been a while since Antonio saw Lovino, and he couldn't find a trace of Feliciano anywhere. He was about to call Lovino, when he saw a figure walking slowly down the sidewalk. Antonio pulled his gun, although he was pretty sure who it was.

"Lovino?"

"Hey Toni. Can you give me a hand here?"

Antonio could barely see two feet in front of him due to the black night and the fog that was beginning to gather. He walked towards Lovino.

"Are you ok Lovi? What happened?" Lovino didn't answer, and Antonio soon saw why. His heart fell. "Dios mio. Poor Feli. Is he alright?"

"Well at least he's still breathing. But he is pretty hurt. Hey, can you take him from me? I feel like I'm about to drop him." Antonio nodded and took the crumbled Italian from Lovi's arms. Feliciano winced in his sleep, but instantly relaxed, probably sensing it was Antonio who was now carrying him.

"Is the car nearby?" Lovino asked, rubbing some dirt off his shirt.

"Si, it's pretty close. Are you ok Lovi? You're not hurt are you?"

"No, I'm fine. Just a bit worried is all." Antonio started walking towards the car. Lovino was walking next to him, keeping an eye on Feliciano.

"How many were there?"

"I only saw about four of them, but from the looks of Feliciano's wounds there was probably more."

"What's happening to Feli? He used to be so good..."

"I know." the tone in Lovino's voice was soft, but forceful. In other words, he was ending the discussion.

As soon as Ludwig got the call, he drove as fast as he could to the house. Some time had passed, and, although most of the members still didn't trust him, they at least let him in the house. Because if Feliciano trusted Ludwig, the others had to accept him. Lovino and Antonio motioned that Feliciano was in Arthur's room. In there, Feliciano was asleep on the bed. Ludwig nearly collapsed at the sight. It hadn't been that bad since they were captured the first time. Ludwig walked over to the bed and held Feliciano's unmoving hand, murmuring into it softly.

"Oh Feliciano... please be ok. Just don't die. Please, don't die. Please, please, be ok..." And so he kept on like that, until he too fell asleep.

"Breakfast is ready!" Antonio called from the kitchen. Everyone found what had happened pretty quickly, seeing as Arthur was awake and making such a commotion trying to find medicine to heal Feliciano. They all went immediately to Lovino, asking what happened. In fact Kiku, who was always a light sleeper, was the first to notice and ask, and even went into Arthur's room to check on Feliciano and give Ludwig a blanket to keep him warm.

And now everyone was called in for breakfast. They already knew Feliciano wouldn't come, so they didn't bother waking him up like they would on a normal day (if he wasn't already awake. He tended to wake up the earliest). So they all sleepily went downstairs to the dining room.

And they were all met with a surprise.

Four people were already seated, laughing to some joke that someone made.

"Alright, seriously, we're getting off track." Lovino laughed.

"I agree. But you know I'm sure any normal German would never do that." Kiku stated, smiling from something.

"Who ever said I was normal?" Ludwig chuckled.

"I don't think that has to do with anything, Kiku. I'm sure Ludwig is just being infected by the Italian ways." Feliciano grinned. Feliciano was sitting next to Ludwig, across from Kiku and Lovino, who were sitting on the other side of the table. All of them had huge, silly grins on their faces, and seemed like they've been awake for some time now.

None of them even noticed the eleven people standing in the doorway with their mouths open.

"So back on track, what happened again? Why were you even out Feliciano?" Lovino asked, trying his best to sound stern. It didn't really work, though, as he was still laughing.

"I got a call."

"A call?" Kiku asked, a little surprised.

"Yeah, a call. From Ludwig." Feliciano didn't look, but Ludwig looked surprised now too.

"What did Ludwig say?" Lovino asked, ignoring Ludwig's confused expression.

"Nothing. I can show you if you want. It was late and I didn't get to sleep yet. Suddenly my phone rang and I saw it was Ludwig's number, so I picked up. I asked what was wrong, but there was no response. The line went dead so I got worried, thinking Ludwig was in trouble."

"But I wasn't. It wasn't me, I didn't call you last night."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Well then who-"

"We can mull over that later." Lovino cut Feliciano off. "What happened after that Feliciano?"

"I went out to check on Ludwig. I guess I should have told you guys that I was going out, but it didn't cross my mind. Besides, I figured I would only be gone for half an hour at the most."

"But you ended up being gone for several hours. Isn't that right?" Kiku asked.

"Yeah. The car wasn't working, so I had to walk there."

"That's right." Lovino gasped. "When Antonio and I went to look for you, all the tires were popped. We had to find some spare ones, which took a while."

"Exactly. I didn't want to waste the time in case I didn't find any spares, so I decided to go on foot. And on the way there I was ambushed."

"Did you ever see who it was?" Ludwig asked, concerned.

"No. It was too dark, and they grabbed me from the back so I didn't see them until I was in that alley. I guess it was pretty stupid of me to not bring my gun."

"And even then" Lovino sighed, still a little frightened. "Why _that_ alley? So close to the Lotta Pista."*

"I have a theory as to why, but it also means I'm accusing a family of something they probably did, but might not have. So I can't tell you that."

"Good choice." Kiku said.

"Is it the Braginsky's?" Ludwig nervously asked.

"Thankfully or unthankfully, no. These guys are much worse, but they usually don't mess with us. I might have just unknowingly passed their territory without permission."

"Do I know them?" Ludwig asked.

"No. And pray that you never meet them." Feliciano locked eyes with Lovino, who understood right away.

After a long silence, Feliciano finally looked up. "Oh! How long have you all been standing there?" The other three looked up now too, to see that everyone had come down, and was listening in on the conversation. "Come on, breakfast is ready. Sit down." slowly they started to move to sit down at the table. Feliciano stood up.

"I'll help Antonio bring in the dishes." he announced, making his way through the people and into the kitchen.

"Is he really-?"

"Yes." Lovino cut off Im Yong Soo. "He's fine. Just needed some rest."

"He still looks like he lost a fight with a brick." Vash stated.

"Shut your mouth, or I'll shut it for you." Lovino quietly threatened him. Vash merely shrugged.

Feliciano and Antonio joyfully came through the door, holding plates of delicious food. All conversation stopped.

But it wasn't long before they were all laughing again.

"Ok, so really" Elizabeta laughed. "You took on _seven_ guys? How did you do that without a gun until the very end?"

"And how did you, like, shoot all of them in the head without, like, even being able to see?" Felix asked.

Feliciano looked at Arthur, Lovino, Kiku, and Antonio. The four of them, after a second, burst out laughing. The rest were confused.

"Like, what did I say?"

"Nothing!" Feliciano said in between laughs.

"Hey, Feli, can I tell it this time?" Lovino laughed.

"Yeah!"

"Alright," Lovino said, calming down some. "It started when Feliciano was five years old. Back then all of us were in the Braginsky house, just on different levels and all different ages. Kiku, Feliciano and I were all the same age. Arthur was a bit older. Antonio was a few years older, and BEST friends with Gilbert and Francis."

"We were called the Bad Touch Trio back then." Antonio said, interrupting Lovino.

Feliciano laughed and Lovino face palmed. "We didn't need to know that, Antonio."

"Oh, sorry."

"Anyways, even though they were friends, he still hung out with us sometimes. And for a whole year, Feliciano would disappear in the shooting range for hours. Now we all spent a considerable amount of time in there, but you would think that after a year you would be good enough."

"Wrong." Feliciano said. The four of them laughed.

"We were very wrong." Kiku said, barely holding back his grin.

"We were." Lovino continued. "So the seven of us decided to go see what Feli was doing the whole time."

Arthur spoke up. "The seven of us, of course, being me, Lovino, Kiku, Antonio, Gilbert, Francis, and Alfred."

"And Alfred was also, at the time, the same age as me, Lovino, and Kiku." Feliciano said.

Lovino continued, not even getting mad about the interruptions anymore. "So we went. And when we walked in, Feliciano almost shot us in the head." They all giggled, remembering the hilarious experience. "You see, for that whole past year, Feliciano would go into the shooting range himself and set it on auto practice mode, which is basically a bunch of straw filled dummies with targets on their heads and plastic swords glued to their hands on a conveyor belt. They charged at you, and you were supposed to shoot all of them within a certain amount of time."

"And Feliciano" Antonio took it from there. "had been doing that practice run by himself, for a whole year. Blindfolded."

"I wanted to get perfect." Feliciano added, grinning.

"But here's the thing." Kiku smiled. "We walked in, and saw Feliciano hitting the bulls eye of every target, all under a minute. And there were over twenty targets."

"My favorite example of this" Arthur chuckled, "was when we were all on a stake out when suddenly Feliciano was captured. He was blindfolded, gagged, and tied up. He kicked all of them out of the car, undid his ropes, and, still blindfolded, took a gun and shot three people who were sitting on top of a building at least a hundred and fifty feet away."

"And then I took my blindfold off and turned to you, still smiling, and said 'alright, where were we again?'"

Everyone at the table laughed. It was so like him, they all knew, to do that. Feliciano was sometimes just strange and unpredictable like that. Which is what made him a great leader. At least to most people.

They finished their meal and all went their separate ways, doing whatever they wanted. The "organized crime" was being kept on low for a while, since none of them were ready to fight yet with the Braginskys, or anyone else they came across. Feliciano and Ludwig sat on the couch with the TV on, not even watching the show, but simply enjoying each other's presence. Ludwig had one leg crossed, the other on the ground, and his arm lazily slung around Feliciano's shoulders. He looked down at Feliciano, who was curled in a ball, laying on Ludwig, a glass of wine being held within his delicate hands.

"Feliciano."

"Hm?"

"..."

"Ludwig?" Feliciano looked up, his big caramel colored eyes staring up in anticipation. "What's wrong?"

"It's just... I didn't call you last night."

"Oh."

"Are you sure it was my number?"

"...I'm sure."

"Then-"

"Ludwig."

"What?"

"Forget about it."

"What?"

"Please. Just forget that happened. It's..." Feliciano took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his face contorted as if he had physical pain from thinking about all this. Feliciano opened his eyes and slowly breathed out, snuggling closer to Ludwig. "It's nothing. Don't think about it too much. It could put you in danger."

Ludwig wanted to say so much. He wanted to say that it was worth the risk, that he would do anything to make sure Feliciano was safe, and he didn't care what kind of danger he was put in. But seeing Feliciano's beautiful face, contorted with worry, and still slightly bruised, Ludwig held his tongue. Instead he put his head down, trying to get as close to Feliciano as possible.

Ludwig closed his eyes and breathed in, trying to take in everything. Feliciano, like always, smelled like a mix of guns smoke, cigar, and lavender. Ludwig smiled at that. There were the usual mix of background noises; someone at the shooting range, Antonio and Lovino talking in kitchen, the TV on, barely audible, Kiku also in the background cleaning various things, and Roderich playing the occasional tune on his piano. But the thing that Ludwig heard the best, the clearest, was Feliciano's steady breathing as he gradually fell deeper into sleep. Ludwig chuckled to himself. It was so cute. It felt the same way he felt when they first met, those blissful days of Feliciano, before Ludwig knew he was in the mafia. They often spent time like this in those days, sitting peacefully on the bed or couch of Ludwig's small motel (before he had the apartment), sometimes even going out to a nice restaurant or an interesting store, just to do the same thing. Now, a few months later, things were finally going back to normal.

And Ludwig could, for a few moments, pretend that they weren't in the mafia. That Feliciano and none of the others were in any danger, and could be killed at any time. Feliciano breathed heavily and repositioned himself, Ludwig lifting his arm for a moment to allow Feliciano the room to move. Feliciano, like always, was smiling in his sleep, ever so slightly. And Ludwig, like always, wondered what the little Italian was dreaming about.

"I'm not overreacting, Antonio."

"You are. Just admit it."

"I'm not! Now leave me alone you fucking bastard." Lovino tried again to get away from the annoying Spaniard, but Antonio just kept forcefully pulling Lovino back. Lovino was already annoyed. First Feliciano acting like nothing was wrong and curling up, yet again, with that fucking potato eating bastard. Then Antonio's fucking interrogation, never taking a break from asking Lovino if he was ok. And Lovino just wanted to get away, just be left alone, but Antonio was too damn persistent, always bringing Lovino right back.

"Lovi, come on, just tell me what's wrong. It's a simple question, you don't have to make a big deal about it."

"I'm not making a big deal about it. Now shut the hell up, bastard."

"You're so mean to everyone but Feliciano. It's cute. Now tell me what's wrong."

"I'm not cute and nothing's wrong!" Lovino tried, once more, to get away from Antonio. Antonio, with determination, pulled Lovino towards him again, but instead shoved Lovino against the wall, pinning him there. Lovino gasped, surprised at the sudden closeness. Antonio pinned Lovino's arms above his head, and stood above him, their faces so close to each other that Lovino could feel Antonio's breath, and their hair and noses nearly touched.

Lovino held his breath. Two emerald eyes stared intently and forcefully back at him, making Lovino's knees go weak and whole body go slack.

"I know something's wrong." Antonio said, in that beautiful, deep voice. "I can see right through you. Tell me, Lovino."

Lovino didn't respond. Instead he dared to let his eyes wander ever so slightly down, staring at Antonio's tight, waiting lips.

"Lovino. Say something."

Lovino knew what he wanted to do. Exactly what he wanted to say. He's wanted to say this, to do this for only God knows how long. And he couldn't believe he was letting himself do this now.

Lovino leaned in and firmly pressed his lips against Antonio's. Antonio was caught by surprise and took an unconscious step back, letting Lovino's hands go. But Lovino still didn't let his lips go so easily. After a few more sweet, needy, and breathtaking moments, Lovino took a step back, grinning at the look of shock on Antonio's face.

"You want me to say something? You're a pretty damn good kisser. Even for a Spaniard." Lovino smirked, using Antonio's ongoing shock as an opportunity to finally escape.

_Alfred hummed happily alongside his favorite person. The slender man in a suit with the British accent and big, bushy eyebrows, smiling ever so slightly next to him._

_"Hey." Alfred poked the side of the man next to him._

_"What is it?" the man said._

_"Can we go get ice cream?" the man looked genuinely surprised at the simple question._

_"Ice cream...?"_

_"Yep!"_

_"Right now?"_

_"Duh!"_

_"But, it's pretty cold out. It's almost winter. Are you sure Alfred?"_

_"Mmhm! Please, can we go get ice cream?"_

_He seemed to think about it for a few seconds before smiling and finding his answer. "Alright. Let's go get ice cream." They both stood up, Alfred jumping happily on his best friend, who gladly lifted him up in his arms._

_"I just can't win against you, can I Alfred?"_

_"Never." Alfred snuggled himself happily into the tweed suit. "I love you, Arthur."_

Alfred woke with a start. Had he really just been dreaming about that? He stood up, roughly taking a photograph out of his pocket and walking over to the trash can to throw it away. But, out of the corner of his eye, Alfred saw those big green eyes and that amazing smile. Alfred took a step back and unwrinkled the photo, looking at it sadly.

"Damn it." Alfred said out loud, angrily wiping away the tears in his eyes. "Why... why did you have to leave. I told you I wanted some freedom... but that's not what I meant. Stupid Brits." Alfred stuffed the photo back into his pocket and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking."

"Probably. What are you thinking anyway?"

"About someone calling you on Ludwig's phone."

"Yeah. I get it." In other words, shut up.

"I'm not dropping this. You know what it means, don't you?"

"I know Lovino. I said I get it."

Lovino shook his head. "Feliciano..." Lovino sighed, making up his mind. "This is getting too dangerous. For everyone."

"I know. I can handle myself. So can Ludwig."

"...Feliciano. Look at me."

Feliciano turned from his cleaning to look Lovino straight in the eyes. "What?"

"I can tell you love Ludwig. I know he means a lot to you. But if you love him so much..."

"What?"

"If you really love him, then you'll tell him to leave. Immediately." Feliciano's eyes widened. "They know who he is. They know he's connected to you. They will kill him Feliciano. If you really care about him, tell him to go back to Germany. And cut your connections with him completely."

"Lovino!"

Lovino cut Feliciano off, taking a dangerously close step to him, Lovino's voice low and calm, but also threatening. "And if you don't do that, then I will. Ludwig has to go."

Before Feliciano could say another word, Lovino swept out of the room, leaving Feliciano feeling dizzy and out of breath.

_Leave Ludwig? How? I know it's for his safety, and I know we both would be better off... but how could I ever just... leave Ludwig?_

Feliciano fell to his knees, his head spinning and his breath coming in way too heavy, way too fast. He had no idea what to do.

***"Who did they think they were, Ivan Braginsky?" : a little fun poking at Russia's weapon of choice: an iron water pipe.**

***"And even then" Lovino sighed, still a little frightened. "Why _that_ alley? So close to the Lotta Pista.": Lotta Pista: "fighting rink". Basically, territory that the Savages own, where duels take place. Yes it is important, and yes I'll go into it more later.**

**Well that's about all the time we had for today, like or favorite if you enjoyed, and I'll see you next for whatever I make. Stay awesome. Bye. (sorry, watching lots of Pewdiepie lately. Pewdiepie is epic)**

**Alright, hope you enjoyed the chapters, bye bye.**


	19. Update

**H-HI...**

**I know! Yeesh! Alright? I know! YOu all hate me, I'm a horrible person, I know! Give me a break!**

**Actually, no one has said anything about my random hiatus (is that how you spell it?).**

**I'm so sorry guys!**

**A lot of stuff has been happening this new year.**

**My dad coming home (he's in the airforce), school (all of my teachers randomly decided that since it was 2013, they were going to give tons of homework. So I barely have any free time each night), and writer's block. I have been trying so hard to write a new chapter, but I just hate everything I write, so I scrap it all. This chapter is like this whole horrible midway point between the awkward new revelation and the end of the story. Or the begining of the end. A lot is going on, but I'm horrible at putting details like this in and still having a story flow well. I'm not a good author like George deValier. I love that so many people love my story, you guys are really great, but I still think I can do better.**

**Anyways, I'm going to attempt to finish and put up this chapter soon. Holy crap, what chapter will this be? Chapter 19 or something? Oh my god, I'm actually scared. I kind of don't want it to end! Sigh... I love you all too much for it to end.**

**But ah well! Once this story ends, I will post more stories. And then some more. I love writing, and I have tons of things I love to write about. Some of them include:**

**Hetalia (duh), Homestuck, Supernatural (don't get mad), Inuyasha, any kind of anime (as long as it's good), and my own original stories that I can't post on here because this sight is called_ FanFiction_ dot net, after all. I hope you all enjoy all my wacky stories to come (there will be a lot of dark!Hetalia, especially dark!Italy, because for some reason I'm obssesed with that), and have a great time! I love you all, and I will post this chapter as soon as I can write it!**

**And again, sorry for the wait.**

**Bye!**


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